《The Chosen Alpha (Prequel to The Female Alpha)》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 1: Aazadi Mink¡¯s P.O.V I wasn''t dead. Not yet. But it sure felt like it. When is a person supposed to die? I don''t know. I''m not literate. Women aren''t supposed to be. At least that''s what he says. Is it when your heart stops beating? I don''t know. Because mine stopped the moment I saw my partners set on fire in front of my eyes. Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. My mother had been different. She''d cared for me. Fed me. Brushed my head. Told me I was special. That the Goddess of Wolves had created me to destroy all those who torment us. "J dena sabko! Kisi ko mat chorna!" (Burn them all. Don''t leave anyone alive!). She''d screamed at me as the fire turned her fair skin ck, made it bubble out blood. "In rakshaso main se koi bhi jeeneyak na hain!" (None of these demons deserve to live). I hadn''t answered. I couldn''t. But he''dughed. Laughed so hard. While my mother...my father....were burnt to death. Their screams kept on echoing through my mind even now, dayster. A sound of bells. It wasing closer slowly. Something was being dragged through the sand, something heavy and familiar. I peeked from behind the tent where I was hiding till now. A khanjaar (a knife) was held tightly in my hand, a man''s white kurta (a top for men) hung from my thin body, my white hair hung loose over my face. My entire body was covered in white sand and dirt; even the white kurta I wore was covered in dirt. I''d prepared myself such so that no one can distinguish between the sand and me. No one can see what''sing. The noise came closer. Stopped in front of his door. "Malik!" (Leader) One of them called. I peeked further, but remained in the shadows so no one could see me. No one knows I escaped. All were sleeping. Deep sleep. I saw two of his men. Big. ck. Holding a girl by each arm in a brown dress. Blood flowing from her stomach. A trail of blood on the sand behind her. Her face hidden behind hair. "Kya hain?" (What is it?) Came a gruff, slurry voice as the door banged open. His voice. Rafael. The leader of our pack. The strongest warrior of them all. Someone who thinks himself to be God. He''s the reason every woman in the vige is a ve. He says they are birthing organs. And those who can¡¯t birth anymore will have to die. He killed my mother because my father kept me and her hidden. And now I know he¡¯ll kill her too. But I¡¯ll kill them all. ¡°Malik, she just gave birth to a choodi (girl)! Should we kill her too?¡± One of the men asked him. ¡°What¡¯s the need? She¡¯s dying anyway. Throw her out on the sands, she¡¯ll be buried under it by morning.¡± I held on to my Khanjaar tightly as Rafael¡¯s slurred voice echoed through the quite vige. ¡°Yes Malik!¡± The men echoed and dragged the women away while Rafael came out of his tent, hara (green) bottle in hand and wearing only a loin cloth. I hid my face behind the tent and used my ears to listen to his moving. I wasn¡¯t wolf yet, but I could hear better and see better and smell better than anyone in my pack, even the men. I listened Rafael moving around, but then his feet turned towards me. I keep my body close to the ground and start walking like a snake on the sand and used my hands to mix the sand in front of me so it covers the marks my body makes. I heard Rafael turn the corner as I hid behind the tent. He stayed for some time and then moved back in, throwing the hara (green) bottle on the ground. It was nearly full. I waited in that position for hours, I don¡¯t know how many. But then everything grew very quiet, except for the sound of night owls. That was when I stood up. I was about to walk the other way when a lighting from the front of the tent caught me. I walk towards it slowly, not making any sounds on my feet and I found the bottle that Rafael had left on the ground. I pick it up and smell it and instantly, it remembers me of the smell of the water Rafael poured over my mother and father before burning them. I take it with me and pour some on the tent I¡¯ve been hiding behind. It was big bottle, so I pour on more tents. When bottle water is no more, I keep it on the ground carefully and take out more that I stole from my prison. This water is blue and they use it to burn fire. So I pour over tents and then take two rocks in my hand. Just like mother taught me to I hit them together and throw them on the water and it catches fire. Suddenly, a wind blows through the desert, strong wind. A storm is coming! Good. I turn around and walk towards the fence of our vige. The fire spreads behind me. And then screams. Just like my mother and father¡­they scream. But then I hear the women scream and they keep chanting aazadi (freedom)! The men scream like women. Scared. This time, Iugh. Iugh so hard that I cry. And then I run. I run as fast as I can. Run long andte, until all I can see is sand. White as my hair, all around me. And there are no more screams. * * N.B: Thenguage and sentence structure in this chapter may seem absurd but that is because at the time, Mink is uneducated like all other women in Mouri who had been denied even the basic of education. This is why even her thoughts are in the uneducatednguage that is the only thing she currently knows. Thenguage and sentences will change after a couple chapters when she has finally educated herself. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Chapter 2: The White Wolf Mink¡¯s P.O.V I panting. By chest feels hard. I put a hand on it to stop the panting, but it¡¯s not help. I can still hear screams. Ites with the wind. And smoke. So much dark smoke. I cough. ¡°Ma¡­d¡­¡± I hear a voice. A strange voice from behind me. The wind is strong. It keeps sending sand everywhere. I have to cover my eyes, my mouth. ¡°Madat¡­.¡± (Help) There it is! I can hear voice again. I turn my ears around, finding the sound. I keep my eyes close and move up a sand hill with hands. The wind is blowing. It blows sand into my eyes and starts coming fast. A storm ising. ¡°Madat¡­.¡± I climb over the sand hill, fast now. And see woman. She half cover in sand and screams for help. I smell blood. I understand her the woman he told to throw away. I crawl to her like baby crawl. I close my eyes and hear her and then crawl to her. ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± I scream over the wind when I¡¯m close to her and I feel her grabbing my hand. ¡°Madat!¡± Her voice is loud and fast. ¡°Help my child! My daughter!¡± I suddenly remember that she gave birth to child the night and I burn the vige. I tell her, ¡°I burn vige! Everyone dead!¡± I open my eye to look at her, she is dark, I can not see. She grabs harder. ¡°Madat!¡± She says again. ¡°Save my child! Go back and save my child!¡± ¡°No!¡± I scream. ¡°I no go back!¡± ¡°Save my child! Go back and save my child!¡± She scream again. I shake my head and pull my hand but she scream again. I am scared. I no go back! I no go back! I hand and leg shake badly and I want to cry. I just ran! I no go back! ¡°I will die soon, child.¡± She begged. ¡°I cannot save my daughter. She is innocent. She just came into this world! Save my child, please. Save my Ruksaar!¡± Her words had me going cold. I could smell blood, everywhere. She was about to die. How can I not save her child? Her Ruksaar¡­ "J dena sabko! Kisi ko mat chorna!" I remember my mother¡¯s voice but I¡¯m torn. I follow her dying wish then how can I not follow this woman¡¯s dying wish? ¡°Go child! Please!¡± She begged again and put her shaking hand on my head. ¡°Save my child and Ah will save you! May Ah always be with you. Please save my baby.¡± With that her hand fell to the sand and she coughed, blooding out of her mouth. My legs shaking and the wind was strong. I did not want to go, but I had to. I had to save Ruksaar. The woman gave me her ashirvaad (blessing), so I have to. I patted her head with my hand. ¡°I go.¡± I told her and I started going back. The wind was strong and it pushed my back and I go forward fast. I run back to the vige. Everything on fire but no more screams. They were dead. I started looking for Ruksaar. She the only baby in vige so I look for the baby. Ruksaar was not there! I look and look everywhere but she is not there! What will I tell her maa? Where will I look? I look everywhere but she not there! I was scared, so scared. Fire everywhere. ck everywhere. Everyone was dead. They look ck and bubble, just like my maa did when she was on fire. No one left! I killed Ruksaar. What will I tell her maa? But then a roar sounded from behind me and I jump up from the burn tent to look at Rafael. His wolf was ck as night and his eyes dirty yellow. And he had a child in his jaw. The child was crying. Ruksaar! She was alive! But Rafael had her. He dropped Ruksaar on the sand and came after me. His teeth were big and sharp and he tried to bite me. I wanted to run but Ruksaar was crying. I wanted to go to her. She was so small and Rafael had big teeth. Rafael tried to bite me again but I fell to the ground and crawled under his legs. He was big, very big and I could crawl under him. I run to Ruksaar. She is red and crying but she has no cks. I pick her up and about to run but it¡¯s toote. Rafael bites my shoulder and his big sharp teeth go inside my skin. I scream in pain. Blood falls into my cloth and it is now stained red. Wateres out of my eyes and I cry, cry louder than Ruksaar but I don¡¯t let her fall. She is too little, she is hurt. I have to save her. Rafael moves his teeth and lets me go, I fall to the sand in pain. Sand goes in my eye and I start seeing red. Everything is red and everything hurts. So much pain that I cry. Then Rafaelughs. I know he is wolf no longer. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have waited to have you, little whore.¡± He spits. ¡°I should¡¯ve fucked you when I found out about you. I should¡¯ve fucked you when I burnt your mother and father, should¡¯ve fucked you in front of them.¡± I cry in fear. I cry because I remember my mother and father. I cry as my shoulder hurts and blood wets the sand. But more I cry because now I have a bigger pain in my chest. Like something wants toe out. What is happening? Will I die? Am I dying? But the pain increases and I cry louder, making Rafaelugh harder. He likes my pain. He always likes other pains. I hate him. I hate him! Suddenly, I feel him kick my back and pain bes more. ¡°Get up you whore!¡± He pulls me up with my hair and I cry more. Ruksaar cries more. ¡°You killed my pack you bitch!¡± He screams at my face, his dirty yellow eyes now red. ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for it all! I¡¯ll fuck you! No, you came back for the child didn¡¯t you? I¡¯ll fuck her in front of you and then I¡¯ll kill her! And then I¡¯ll fuck you!¡± He throws me down on the sand and I scream in pain. Ruksaar drops from my hand and he picks her. I cry and scream but no one will help. There is no one. I killed everyone¡­but not Rafael. Why not Rafael? Because he¡¯s the Alpha. Someone says. A woman. But there is no one! All dead! Who is talking? Why is Rafael not dead? Because he¡¯s the Alpha. Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. The voicees again and the pain in my chest increases. I hold my chest and scream. So much pain! I know Rafael is Alpha! But I hate him! I hate him! He is making Ruksaar cry. He is going to dirty her! He is going to kill her! Yes. But you can kill him too. How? I ask, I scream but no wordse out. So much pain that I cannot talk. How do I kill him? I want to kill him! He should die! I hate him! He dirty! How? He strong! He Alpha! How can I kill him? How? How? How? Because you¡¯re an Alpha too. You¡¯re the female Alpha. Suddenly. I go very quiet. The pain is gone and there is no sound. I can see Rafael turning to me as heys Ruksaar on the ground. But his eyes are big and he looks scared. And then¡­I burst. * I don¡¯t know what was happening but suddenly there is pain but it feels good. Like I¡¯m free. Like I¡¯m finally free. There I dark and light. There is so much pain but it feels good and then all I see is red. And when I open my eyes, Rafael screams and falls back on the ground. Ruksaar stops crying. I see the fire all around me but all I want is Rafael. I want to rip him to shreds. I want to kill him and I want to kill him now! I open my mouth and scream but whates out is a roar. A loud, piercing roar that makes Rafael flinch back. He starts running and I run after him. ¡°You bitch! You¡¯re not supposed to change for two more years!¡± He shouts back as he runs. ¡°How can you transform now?¡± But his talking has slowed him down and I use it to jump on top of him. Within a few seconds, I have my mouth around his head and I bite hard. Rafael screams and tries to flip me off but I don¡¯t let go. He fall on the ground and I jump off of him¡­taking his head in my mouth, I rip it off him and jump. When I look back, his body is shaking and blood is pouring out of his cut out head. I spit out his head and itnds on a burning tent and starts to cken instantly. That same feelinges again, that pain that feels good, the dark and the light. And when it¡¯s gone, I am standing on my feet and the pain is gone. So is the blood. I am hurt no more. That night I leave Mouri, whatever was left of it and I take Ruksaar with me. Everyone I know is gone. And I¡¯ve killed Rafael. But now I¡¯m not just Mikalya Kernel, I¡¯m no longer just Mink. I¡¯m now the female Alpha. The only female Alpha in the world. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Wanderer Mikalya¡¯s P.O.V- For nearly a century I''ve been roaming this Earth, wandering through differentnds, watching time fly past. People changed, empires rose and fell, India gained its independence, new generations were born and the older ones died out. An endless cycle of life and death that seems to stretch on forever and ever. But even though the world around me has changed so much, I''m still trapped in that cold winter night from a century ago when a young girl had to not only grow up, but do something that no child of fourteen should ever have to dream about. A cold night painted in deep, dark red that even the darkness couldn''t hide. Screams so loud and painful that it echoed throughout thends. And then....silence. What had hurt more than the scream was the endless silence. Silence now buried under thousands ofyers of sand. No one remembers Mouri anymore, as if it never existed. The pack that I had been born in had liked to travel, liked to kill entire packs and take over theirnd, only to leave it in ruins a few dayster when all the previous packs ie had been spent on alcohol and their women had given birth to the next generation. If there was one thing I was thankful for, it was the fact that my pack had had no more children during the time I¡¯d burnt it to the ground. Only boys in theirte teens who had taken pleasure in raping their own sisters. They had deserved what was coming their way. Today, I once again stood in the samend that had once been my version of Hell. But when I looked ahead now, I can see a small thriving vige that is now a tourist spot. I saw several women in colorful ghagra-choli¡¯s (an Indian dress worn mainly in Gujarat and Rajasthan) with wide smiles on their faces as they led the other tourists to their shops where they sold such simr dresses, hand woven bed sheets and dolls made of y or straws. It was and filled with color and prosperity and hope. When Rafael had been Alpha, he¡¯d treated women like disposable dolls, not letting them wear anything other than torn rags, but he¡¯d mostly kept them naked and let the men do as they please. He had insulted the very foundation of our world. To humiliate women in and where the people call our country "Matribhumi" (mothernd), and where Goddesses Durga ( Mother Goddess), Kali (Death Goddess), Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge), Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth and prosperity), Annapurna (Goddess who provides us food) and several women are considered mothers, Goddesses and are worshiped every day; his crimes had been unforgiveable. But as I¡¯d learnt soon after, he wasn¡¯t the only one. Not just humans, but the world of shifters is dominated by males. Females are still only fit to work in the kitchen and give birth to their children. Although now I see several women getting educated, taking up jobs and running their families with capable hands, they still do not have as much freedom as men. But who am I to specte? I¡¯m just a lone wanderer who keeps roaming throughout India, not staying in one location for more than ten years so that the humans don¡¯t start questioning why I don¡¯t age. I¡¯ve worked odd jobs at several cities and viges and have managed to make a fortune for myself, but the saddest part is, I don¡¯t have any family to spend that money on. Oh, who am I kidding? I don¡¯t have family alright, but I have someone who has tagged along with me my entire life. Ruksaar. The only other survivor from Mouri. She had been extremely excited to visit her birthce but as soon as she had gotten on the ne, the hot steward had grabbed her attention. That was why, at present, I was standing in this small town that had once been Mouri and Ruksaar was in her hotel room with the steward, fornicating. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a virgin. Wolves are sexual creatures just like most shifters, so I¡¯ve had my fair share of lovers that have sometimessted up to a couple of years, but we also have mates. And we can only have children with our mates. Unfortunately, I¡¯ve never once found a mate in my one hundred and twenty six years of existence; and frankly, I don¡¯t n to find him either. And to think that Mother Nature had burdened us with not one but several mates to choose from¡­it caused a shudder to run down my spine. But with Ruksaar, it was different. She preferred one night stands to something a bit more permanent. ¡°Sorry,¡± I spoke to the sand, where I¡¯d burned the remains of Ruksaar¡¯s mother. ¡°You¡¯re probably regretting sending her off with me.¡± But no one answered and I knew that Ruksaar¡¯s mother hadn¡¯t had a choice. It was either I save her daughter from the scorching mes or let her die along with everyone else in the vige. And I¡¯d decided to keep her with me rather than abandon her at an orphanage. She was pack; she was blood. ¡°I thought we were here on a vacation!¡± I turned to find Ruksaar wobbling over a dune, trying to cross over to me without getting sand in her shoes. ¡°Why are you brooding in broad daylight?¡± ¡°Sorry, I haven¡¯t mugged up the brooding manual yet.¡± I shrugged as I debated entering the vige or turning back and heading back to our hotel. ¡°That was awfully quick.¡± Ruksaar huffed as she came to a stand next to me. Her long ck hair hung in loose curls to her waist and she was wearing a ghagra-choli in bright green mixed with blue. Her skin was dusky; almost like milk chocte and her big almond shaped dark brown eyes were looking at the ce of her birth with interest. She had no memories of that night, of course. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t see her show any signs of recognition. But thisnd was etched in my memories forever, just like the night we had escaped it. And I will never be able to forget it, until the day I die. ¡°Come on, jiji,¡± Ruksaar linked her hand through mine and began dragging me towards the vige. ¡°I¡¯m starving. Let¡¯s go eat something spicy.¡± ¡°Everything here is spicy.¡± I told her, remembering one of the dishes my mother used to feed me. Both Gujarat and Rajasthan were known for their spicy food, as well as their unique culture and ancient castles. Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. Hand in hand, we both set foot into thend that had never weed women with the pride and joy we deserved, but with fear and anguish. As old memories swirled, I crushed them down with sheer strength of will. The past was in the past. I will not let it ruin the future. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Chapter 4: The Foreigner Abhay¡¯s P.O.V:- I took another shot of the women sewing together a brilliant bed sheet with needles and threads and then checked the photos for rity. This was going to be the most amazing project I¡¯d ever done for Lifestyle Magazine. The brightness of the colors contrasted well with the whitewashed buildings and brought the women into sharp focus. My new Nikon FM2 had cost me a fortune but it was the perfect camera for me. And it was lightweight and easy to carry. I still had a few longer, high resolution lenses in the duffle bag that I¡¯d left back at the hotel, but since I was just walking through the vibrant marketce and taking close-up shots, it was easier to carry a lightweight camera. It was about three o¡¯ clock on a winter afternoon but the sun was beating down on all of us mercilessly, although I was the only one who seemed to be affected by it. I wiped away some sweat from my brows with a handkerchief and cursed myself for wearing a leather jacket in the middle of the day. I looked around at the stores and street-side vendors and decided that going into a dhaba (an eatery) was a lot better choice than standing in this heat and watching myself melt. And besides, I haven¡¯t had lunch yet so it would give me a much needed break. But first things first, I walked over to the group of women sewing together to get a closer shot of their work. There were about nine women, everyone sitting in a circr formation around the sheet they were sewing, and they seemed to be having a pleasant time doing their job. They sat with their back to a small one storied house, all wearing colorful ghagra-choli¡¯s along with red coral bangles to signify their marital. All of them had their dupatta¡¯s covering their head and half of their face so you couldn¡¯t tell if they wore vermillion on their forehead or not, which in India was a sure shot way of telling if a woman was married. Gingerly, I asked them if it was alright for me to take their pictures or not, because most women in this part of the country were conservative as Hell and it would be rude to get their photos in a magazine without asking for permission first. The women seemed willing to let me take pictures so I helped myself by hunkering down next to them and taking several close-up shots of their crafts. The workmanship was even beautiful from up close and I made a mental shopping list of things that I¡¯ll need to take home to my parents and to my brother and his new wife. The threads they used were a bit on the thicker side and required mean-looking, big needles and the colors they had chosen for the red sheet were all in varying shades of green and white. It provided a nice contrast and really brought out the designs. As a photographer, it was my duty to bring out the best camera angles and the group of women were not only co-operative, they enjoyed the mini-photoshoot just as much as I enjoyed filming it. I was also able to find out that they ran a local boutique store just around the corner and sold several other things that they hand-crafted themselves. So I noted down their address and promised to return soon to buy some of their products before I returned to Bombay. Happy that I¡¯d aplished part of the job, I made my way down the street on to my next mission. Finding the nearest dhaba only a couple minutes away, I ducked down under the shade of the asbestos sheet covered ceiling and plopped down on one of the nearest tables I could find. I ced my camera on the table and poured some water into a steel ss from a pitcher and drowned it in one go. Feeling instantly refreshed, I picked up the stic bound menu card and began scanning through it, looking for something non-spicy to have for lunch. C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org ¡°Ready to order, Saabh?¡± A waiter came to ask me a couple minutester, wearing a white kurta and a multicolored turban, as most men did in Gujarat. ¡°Haan.¡± I nodded and pointed out a few delicacies that looked the least bit spicy. After all, you can never go wrong with rice and daal, right? ¡°And get me a big ss of chaach (buttermilk) to go with it.¡± I told the man in Hindi and broken Gujarati, but he understood and wrote down my order before telling me he¡¯ll be right back with them. The chaach arrived first, garnished with spices and presented in a ss so tall, I could¡¯ve easily just drank the whole thing and skipped lunch; and then came the daal chawal. What I hadn¡¯t expected though, was the amount of green chilies floating in the pulses. Carefully I swirled my finger in the middle of the lump of rice dumped in my te and then poured the daal into the well that I¡¯d created. I made sure not to pour all the daal and reserved some for later, depending on the spice level. I picked up a small portion with my fingers and ced it into my mouth. The burst of fiery heat was instant and within a few seconds, I had drowned half the ss of chaach and was still panting from the heat. ¡°Fuck! That¡¯s going to be a painful time at the loo.¡± I told myself under my breath. Sometimes I hated the fact that I had such a low tolerance for heat, which is why when I saw a foreigner enter the dhaba along with a Guajarati girl, I felt a sense of pride that at least I had a better heat tolerance than the white haired woman. Wait, white haired? My head whipped up to stare at the woman in awe. At first I¡¯d thought that she might be an old woman given the color of her hair, but now that I was looking at her closely, she hardly looked younger than twenty five. And now that she was inside the shade of the restaurant, I could see a slight difference in her hair color that I couldn¡¯t tell at first nce. It wasn¡¯t white¡­it was a metallic white, almost silver. As if feeling my gaze on her, her head whipped in my direction, her eyes piercing right through me to the depths of my soul. For a few seconds, the world stood still. All I saw were her icy blue eyes, the same color as the ocean on a bright sunny day. But even though the color was bright, I felt a chill run down my spine. I shuddered, but I couldn¡¯t break eye contact. She was beautiful¡­absolutely gorgeous. But there was an iciness around her that could freeze someone to death. It was like she was closed off, too reserved and unaffected to care about anyone else, and yet the way she took a step in front of the Gujarati girl, while taking a seat a couple tables in front of me, was almost protective. She was also very tall, almost six feet, which meant she would be almost the same height as me. And I could almost feel how good it would be to have her tucked under my chin, to feel her soft skin under my fingers, to kiss those delicious pink lips¡­ And just like she¡¯d read my mind before, she must have done so this time as well, because her icy blue eyes sparked fire at me and the world began to move again. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Chapter 5: Illusions Abhay¡¯s P.O.V For a couple of seconds, I felt bbergasted. Yes, I was a healthy male of twenty seven years but I¡¯ve never imagined myself naked and in bed with any women. I was brought up with parents who had taught me that in our culture, sex before marriage was not the right way to go about it. And I¡¯d always believed in that principle. Yes, I¡¯ve had a couple of rtionships in my life. Once when I was in high school, with a girl about three years younger than me, we had drifted apart after I left school to join college. My second rtionship had been in my second year of college, with a girl in my ss who had shared my enthusiasm for photography. But we too had drifted apart right after I¡¯dnded a job at Lifestyle Magazine as an intern and she had left for Calcutta to work for The Daily Telegraph. But I¡¯ve never had any physical rtionships with either of my ex¡¯s. We had kissed, yes, I wasn¡¯t that much of a saint, but we have never gone farther than that. And afternding my job I had been too busy with my job to actually get into any kind of rtionship. There was a dream house that I wanted to built, a dream car I had to purchase and I had also nned several trips to foreignnds that would never be fulfilled if I didn¡¯t have money in my pocket. Five years of continuous work without taking any vacations, I was almost close enough to achieving my first goal and I also had some extra bucks in my wallet to afford a foreign tour; women had been the farthest thought in my mind. And then in walks a foreigner with silver hair and all my restrains fly out the window. Never in my life have I ever had such a visceral reaction to someone. It was almost like what I was seeing was real. The touch of my fingers on her pale white skin, the feel of her plump, pink lips on mine¡­it was like I could feel her right now, as if she were a part of me¡­which was very absurd and creepy because I¡¯d just met the woman. I¡¯d have known if I had ever had a rtionship with a woman that gorgeous. But there was something about her that kept nagging on my senses. As I watched a waiter drift t towards the women, after a hard fight at the back with the others on who would take their order, he immediately took a couple steps back as soon as that icy blue gazended on him. There was an underlying sense of danger to her, to both the women. Like, despite the quiet demeanor, they were capable of a lot of violence. Once again, that thought left me stunned. I had hardlyid my eyes on the women and yet here I was, making ridiculous assumptions while sitting idly by and letting my food get cold. ¡°Bring us someal maas and four the¡¯s. And two sses of Chaach!¡± The Gujarati girl ordered and my eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. The¡¯s, a kind of t bread made from various spices and herbs, was spicy all by itself. To addal mass with that, a red meat curry that was marinatedpletely with red hot peppers before cooking, therefore gaining the nameal maas because of it vibrant red color¡­I took a couple sips of my chaach to cool myself off on their behalf. Does the silver haired woman not know what they were ordering? Should I warn them beforehand? But even as I thought that, the waiter was already on his way to bring out the dishes and my food had partially gone cold. I took another mouthful of the rice and daal, d that the cold had taken away some of the heat from the cooking, although there was still a slow burn at the back of my head. I was down three more mouthfuls before the waiter brought out their order, still piping hot with steam rising from the food. I prayed to the gods above that they didn¡¯t need to be hospitalized by the time they had taken their first bite. But then I, along with several others that had been fascinated by the two women, watched in astonishment as they tore away at their the¡¯s and dipped it in the spicy red meat and ate them as if they did this every single day. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a few people look impressed, a few bills exchanged hands as bets were lost and the two women took their time eating their fill of chilies and taking small sips of the chaach without bothering about anything going around them. They seemed to be lost in conversation. The ck haired, caramel skinned woman gave a carefreeugh as the silver haired woman spoke to her and that too had a few heads turning towards them. But then I noticed the slight stiffness to the silver haired woman, it was so slight that anyone could have easily missed it. But I liked to think that I had a photographer¡¯s eye and that¡¯s probably why I¡¯d noticed it in the first ce. The uneasiness was clear in the slight stiffness to her shoulders, the rigidity of her spine and the slight crinkle between her brows. Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. Watching them nearing the end of their meal, I quickly gulped down my ice cold food, ignoring the burst of silent heat and sucking it up like a man, and drank the rest of my chaach, just in time to find the women asking for the bill from the waiter. I lifted my hand and motioned for another waiter to get my bill and as our tables were cleared and bills paid, the women stood up from their seat and turning towards the exit, ready to leave. Swearing some colorful words under my breath, I tried toe up with an excuse to talk to the silver haired girl while snatching my camera from the corner of the table and readying myself to get up. But just as soon as the women had stepped out of the hotel, the silver haired woman turned to look back at me, and the iciness of her gaze froze me in ce. Her eyes were like two shards of ice, sharp and unyielding, like a cobra winds itself up just before the killing strike. The underlying sense of danger magnified by tenfold and I could feel the hair on my nape stand in attention. There was something about her eyes that seemed different¡­almost inhuman. I concentrated on her eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong with it now, even as I stood frozen in my spot. With a start I realized that it wasn¡¯t the zing desert sun that was ying tricks with her eyes, they seemed to be glowing from within, like a diamond does when light strikes the right angles. And just for a second, my mind decided to cross the line and trip me into insanity, because it wasn¡¯t the woman I saw standing in her colorful clothes and silver hair, but a white wolf with eyes of blue so pure, I could drown in them for all eternity. Just for a fleeting second. And then they were just gone. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Chapter 6: Reality Mink''s LO.V No. NO! This cannot be happening and especially not not...not here! Ruksaar chatted on beside me without a care in the world as we both walked briskly back to our hotel. She was blissfully unaware of the turbulence that was going through my mind as I balled my hands into fists. my ws slicing out to pierce the delicate skin of my palm. The wounds would heal even before they were formed and I wished with all my power that my mind could work the same way. But his image was now imprinted in my mind and it''ll stay right there until the day I die. Mate. The bloody word tasted like poison in my mouth and I tried to suppress the shudder that rocked through me, but to no avail. Wide almond shaped eyes the color of topaz, with more gold than brown; they were eyes of a cat. His hair had been a dark shade of brown that almost appeared ck. I could picture it in the sun, however, with a brown tint to it. It would be soft to the touch-C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org I reined back my thoughts with violent self-control. I hadn''t needed a mate for over a hundred years and I certainly didn¡¯t need one now. All shifters have several potential mates that they meet at varying stages in their lives. We don''t find two potential mates at the same time and even if we do, the first person wey our eyes on will be the one we recognize as our mates, hence nullifying the effect of our second potential mate. Different shifters also have different lifespan. So if a mate dies, the partner will still be able to find another mate for however long they remain alive. Shifters are usually paired with other shifters, but having a human as a mate isn''t unheard of. My mate seemed to be just that. Human. ¡°Jiji! Have you heard a word of I just said?¡± Ruksaar¡¯s irritated voice snapped me out of my trance and I realized that we''d already reached our hotel and were now nearing our room. Dear God! How could I be so preupied with some man that I''dpletely lost track of my surroundings? Thankfully, Gujarat no longer hosted any predatory shifter packs, just some non-predatory ones like a herd or two of camels and a few deer packs further down towards the border Gujarat shared with Maharashtra. It meant I could get my guard down once in a while but not to the point where I lase sight of reality. ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologized to a grumpy Ruksaar. ¡°What were you saying?¡± ¡°I was saying.¡± she gave me a pointed look before continuing, ¡°that we should just go back to Jharna.¡± ¡°No.¡± The answer was immediate and it was out before I could stop it. ¡°But what¡¯s there to see, anyway?¡± Ruksaar argued. ¡°Mouri no longer exists and this ce had been rebuilt from scratch. I don¡¯t think you''ll even be able to find ghosts if you stood in the middle of the desert in the dead of night! We entered the room and locked the door behind us and taking off our traditional clothing, changed into sweatpants and t-shirts. Ruksaar turned the air conditioner on full st and fanned her face with her hands. ¡°And besides.¡± she gave it onest shot. ¡°It''s hot as hell in here!¡± I shook my head at her antics before lying down on the bed beside her. ¡°You were a newborn when I left Gujarat with you: you hardly knew anything of what happened here or how I''d spent the first fourteen years of my life. There might not be ghosts in the desert, Ruksaar but there are several of them inside me that I need to put to rest.¡± ¡°Then what about Jnarna? What about the house that you''re building brick by brick with your own blood and sweat?¡± Ruksaar asked. ¡°We aren''t desert wolves, Jiji! I can¡¯t stand the heat for that long. One week is too long a time to be spending in this god forsaken vige in the middle of nowhere. ¡°Actually Ruksaar, we are desert wolves.¡± I corrected. ¡°But we''ve been living in the mountains for the past twelve years and we have adapted to the climate. It doesn¡¯t change who we are.¡± ¡°But I want to go back home,¡± Ruksaar said atst, her voice quiet and soft. ¡°Shiwalik with all its snow and bone chattering cold has be home for me than any ce could ever have been. And now that our house is almostplete, it feels so much like home that I hate staying away from it.¡± ¡°I can understand, Ruksaar. Just bear with me for a week? Yes, I could understand what she meant. When we''d moved to Shiwalik in th¨¦yniddle Himyan mountain rage, the ce had instantly ¡é awn me in. I''d feltat => peace with my wolf, with my demapts for the first time in over a century. That¡¯s why I''d star ted to burt a house there, arge ¡é one. There were over thir y roams with ten more under construction. Building that house had meant spending about half of what I¡¯d made my entire life, but damn it, it was worth it. The house was big enough to be a pack house with its numerous rooms and humongous size. It wasn''t being Built skyward but downwardssinto the ground, not too far downcthoug h, since wolves liked to see the world outside their + winddws even if all they saw was white. The roofs were sloping so that the snow could fall easily on them and stay there for days. It was a house that I''d one day leave to Ruksaar and her pups...mine too if I ever decided to have any. Some day that house will be filled with people and little pups running around freely...some day. Content belongs to s+ It wasn''t long before the reality of my thoughts hit me like a p across the cheek. Pups? Was I really just thinking about having cubs? And what would I leave them with ex¨¦ept for nightmares and demons? I was in no way ready tobea raother and neither did I want a mateHt¡¯s funny how my thoughis ave-Started to change as sosh as I had-Seen his face. I didn¡¯t krow the rran; he could have a family of his own for God¡¯s sake! How could I even begin to imagine a future with him, let alone have cubs with him when I didn''t even know his name? a Mother Nature was ying a cruel joke on me. That had to be it. I was finally paying for my sins, for taking all those innocent lives when I''d burned down my entire vige. There had been about two hundred people in that vige then; including women and children...and I''d taken everyone''s lives. I turned my head toward Ruksaar to find her dozing off peacefully beside me: her hands were on top of her stomach and her ck hair was scattered across the pillows like a halo around her. Ruksaar is only fourteen years younger than me and she is the closest thing I''ve ever had to a family. To think that I almost didn''t go back for her. I turned my head away and rubbed at my eyes with my fingers. Being back here had been Hell for me. That fateful day kept ying on repeat over and over in my head, making me restless and anxious. Why wasn''t I at peace with my past? Why couldn¡¯t I just move on and just be rid of all these memories? My mate¡¯s face came to mind at that instant and I almostughed at the irony. The same ce that I''d cleansed of all life at one point in my life was now giving me a reason to live on. I''ve lived for over a century, been to thousands of different ces, seen a thousand different faces...and yet, it just had to be here that I find my mate, just when I thought I no longer needed one. Yeah...Mother Nature was indeed ying a cruel game with me. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Chapter 7: Desert Snow Abhay''s P.O.V It was snowing The ground waspletely white. It had snowed overnight and now the tiny yellow blossoms that looked like miniature sunflowers were buried under three feet of fresh snow, their petals crushed under the heavy weight. It was going to be a long, cold year ahead and the snow has only just begun. I looked at the waterfall in front of me, untouched by the winter chill. Jnarna, that was what we called it. The literal Hindi trantion of a waterfall, but it just sounded right to us. It was freezing outside but I knew it would be nice and warm inside the pack house. It would also be noisy. But I liked that noise. It was weing. It was home. Something dropped to the ground in front of my feet. I looked down to see what it was. It was only a speck in the vast sea of snow but it stood out amongst the white. It was in the shape of a tiny drop but the warmthing from it melted the snow a little, caused a slight dent as it was absorbed into the snow. Blood. It was a drop of blood The temperature suddenly dropped by at least ten degrees as another drop of blood fell on the ground to join the other droplet. Then another. And another. The drops weren''ting from the sky and I realized with a start that the blood was actually dripping down my fingertips. I raised my hands in front of my face to inspect the blood and saw that there was blood everywhere. It was running down my arm as it colored my sleeves. Confusion swarm in my head as I tried to register why I was bleeding. The only thing I felt was cold, there was no pain. I looked down at the ground and watched in shock as the ground beneath me turnedpletely red. It was like I was standing in a river of blood. It flowed freely in the snow, heading towards the slope before taking the plunge downward to meet the waters of the Jharna, turning it a dark pink it color. I felt something trickle down my forehead and I raised my bloody hands to wipe it away, only toe up with more blood. I felt a sad smile form on my lips. This was it then, this was how it all ends.Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. My vision blurred, ck spots danced in front of my eyes and I knew I didn¡¯t have my time left. I only wished I could hold her once again. Just this one last time before I was gone. I turned back to look at the vast fields of snow that were now drenched in blood. And there she was, in her white fur and soulful blue eyes. There was blood in her coat but that didn''t diminish her beauty; she would always be the most beautiful woman I''ve ever seen, no matter what form she took. She was running towards me with all her might but she was too far. It was of no use. It was already toote I raised my hand towards her as if to say goodbye, but my vision blurred further, the dark spots increased...and then I was falling back, into the turbulent waters of Jharna. This was it. A mournful howl filled the air a split secondter...and my vision went nk. I sprang up in bed in cold sweat. My heart was beating like a hummingbird and I was gulping in huge gasps of air. The clock on the opposite wall showed 4.45 in the morning but my mind was racing with a thousand questions. What was all that about? I''d never been to a mountain before, especially because of my fear of heights and yet I was dreaming about the mountains. And what was with all that blood and snow? Why was I bleeding? Was someone trying te kill me? And that wolf. Those eyes! I¡¯d seen them before. That white wolf in my dreams was so familiar. I knew it was a woman and I also seemed to know that wolf. She, I called it a ¡®she¡¯. How did I even know that the wolf was a female? What was my connecting to it? Whatever it was, it went very deep. It felt like I wanted to hold her onest time before I died... I shook my head. I was a twenty seven year old male in the prime of my life and yet here I was, dreaming about dying and blood and a white wolf with icy blue eyes-wait, icy blue eyes? I remembered with a start, it was the woman I''d seen today, in that dhaba this afternoon. For a second I remember thinking of her as a white wolf. What was wrong with me? I''ve been obsessing about that woman whole day! So what if she was a foreigner? It wasn''t like she was the first foreigner I''ve ever seen. But she certainly was a unique woman if I was obsessing with her this much. Sighing. I got out of bed and pulling my balcony door open. stepped into the veranda. The sun hadn''t risen yet and the sky was still dark with only specks of light visible on the horizon. One thing about the desert was that the days were extremely hot and the nights were cool like the autumn. It all depended upon the sand¡¯s absorption and release of heat. That''s something we learned in school. I knew I was filling my mind with baseless thoughts to distract myself because I was too shaken up by the dream. Ever since I was little, my mom alwaystold me that subha ke \ sapne ham¨¦sha sach hote hain; the. dreams that we see inthe early < morning.dlwayse true. So for me obe dreaming about my_death at 445 in the morning wasn''t something I was too excited about. I could just call my mom and ask her what my dream even meant, but being a superstitious Indian mother that she was, she would just freak out and want me toe home immediately. I tried not to be as superstitious as my family could be sometimes, but when you''ve been raised in superstition your entire childhood, it¡¯s hard not to pick up a few things. I''m a native of Delhi and I was currently based in Bombay as a photographer-have never been to a hill station before in my entire life, not even far work and I didn¡¯t see >> any future ns that involved hilly areas The vige was slowlying to life as I stood on my hotel balcony and watched. Some of the lights had been turnedvon in several houses, shops were being open and meni colorfuf turbans were lighting their chtis and puttingrge a sau¨¦epans of water on boikso they c6uld start making tea apd groups of women were heading towards the tube wells with their earthen pot to collect water for their days work. Everything was buzzing around me but my mind was restless, it was filled with thoughts about that snow covered mountain and of a woman that my mind kept thinking of as a wolf. Maybe I really was going insane or maybe some higher power was trying to send me a message, tell me something that was about to happen Yeah, right! With my luck, I¡¯d bet on the former. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Chapter 8: Cruel Fate Mink''s LO.V I watched four men approach us from the other end of the desert. Each one was wearing the traditional Rajasthani dhoti-kurta along with the multicolored turbans. One hundred yearster and the world hasn¡¯t changed all that much from since I was a child. Shifters are still a male dominated species, not much different from the patriarchal society that humans live in. I often wonder what it was that made men so special that they thought they could rule every aspect of everyone¡¯s lives. Be it humans or shifters, women were always looked down upon. I could understand the theory behind this discrimination with humans, but shifters? Shifters were strong and that strength didn¡¯t discriminate between male or female. The highest I''ve ever seen a female shifter rise in rank was a beta in a deer shifter pack. which was pretty unconventional considering that most of the deer packsprise of females with one big horned male. That was why I didn¡¯t like the idea of a pack. I didn''t want to be confided by the rules of a pack and I would never bow down to another man for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, the term used for such packless, mateless wolves such as me and Ruksaar was Rouges. Not a pretty term considering that rogues were usually violent in their temperament and their only aim was to wreck havoc in the world, but that¡¯s how the saying goes. However, I prefer the term lone wolf. ¡°State your purpose of being here, rogue!¡± A tall man in histe twenties spat out, like he had swallowed something distasteful. I raised my eyebrows at him. ¡°I¡¯m under no such obligation.¡± ¡°You have some nerve, woman!¡± Another man spoke up from behind the first one, obviously the beta. ¡°Youe into ournd and roam around like this ce belongs to you! State your purpose or prepare to die! ¡°Oh?¡± Ruksaar spoke up from beside me as she pretended to examine her nails. ¡°If you''re that desperate to know our purpose of visit, how about letting me take a bite out of you? I¡¯ve never had falcon meat before, is that purpose enough for you?¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Shut up, wretched woma-* ¡°Enough!¡± I let my wolf seep into my voice as I stepped forward to face the Alpha. ¡°Our purpose of visit is none of your business and neither should you have any interest in either of us. Go about your day without bothering us, falcon or the consequences will not be in your favor.¡± The men backed down a few steps but their ego was still intact. "Youe to ournd and threaten us!" Spoke the young Alpha. ¡°You might be wolves but you cannot take on an entire flock of falcons!¡± ¡°Whatnd are you even talking about?¡± I asked the Alpha. ¡°These sands that you see once belonged to my pack. I was born here but you weren''t. Your flock flew in when you could no longer find prey in the desert. So technically, you are standing in mynd, not the other way around.¡± The men looked at me in confusion for a few seconds before realization dawned on them, followed by fear. The Alpha was the one who spoke up first. ¡°There hasn''t been a wolf pack in Rajasthan for a hundred year now, not until....you can''t be! They''re all dead! No one survived!¡± ¡°And yet. no one ever questions who killed them all.¡± I tilted my head to one side, watching the sun rise in the horizon over the dunes. ¡°Who set fire to an entire vige and killed the most ferocious Alpha known to man.¡± ¡°What you¡¯re speaking of is impossible!¡± The beta used. ¡°Only an Alpha can kill an Alpha. And for you to have killed Rafael...no! You cannot be an Alpha! Women are not Alpha¡¯s!¡± ¡°Wanna test that theory?¡± Ruksaar mocked the men, letting hr wolf rise to the surface. The falcons weren''t a predatory pack like us wolves. They were scavengers, the lowest of the low. Shifter packs were usually divided amongst predatory, non-predatory and scavengers, with predatory pack being on top of the food chain. No, it didn''t mean that packs fed on each other, but we didn''t show mercy to their wild counterparts. It wasn''t a surprise however, to see a scavenger pack trying to challenge two predatory lone wolves, especially since we were women. Apparently, women, whether predatory ornon- predatory, fell even below scavengers in the social o hierarchy- Which is exactly whysthe falcon Alpha of the SkySummitflock decitted to call us out in the. Middle ofthe desert, that too before sunrise. It was also an added bonus that they had brought extra men to outnumber us. I don''t believe their crap about humans finding out about us shifters bullshit one tiny bit. They had thought they could intimidate and overpower two women, be it predatory wolves, in the dark of the night, probably scare us into submission. Oh, how the world the changed. Content belongs to NovelDrama.Org What they hadn¡¯t expected was to find an Alpha wolf and herpanion that belonged to the dreaded BloodPlegde pack of Mouri. It wasn¡¯t their fault to be honest, so I couldn''t be mad at them. Men were raised to feel superior ta women, be it human or shifter, even though men didn¡¯t have the gift of procreation. But what can I do to change their though? I am but one woman. The falcons didn¡¯t wait for an answer. They simply turned tail and fled the scene ¡°Aren''t we going to chase after them?¡± Ruksaar asked. She was practically bouncing on her toes, ready to chase the falcons. ¡°No.¡± I shook my head. ¡°We''ve made our point clear and they''ve got the message. Anything else and they''d consider us serious threat. ¡°But we are a serious threat!¡± Ruksaarined ¡°Yes, but what would chasing after them achieve?¡± I asked her. ¡°You ene . may be doing¡¯this just for the thrill of it but fa cons are a sensitive bunch,. they might h¨¦feel threatened and trysto relocate: You have to keep in mind that the! r flock doesn''t only consist of.m¨¦n ike the Alpha and his fellowers, but also womefand children. Uprooting their ¨¦ntire flock may alsoe as a shock to the children and they might not make it to their next destination.¡± Content belongs to NovelDrama.Org Ruksaar blinked up at me with her big brown eyes. ¡°For someone who doesn''t want to build a pack, you sure know a lot about how it operates.¡± ¡°Every Alpha knows how a pack operates. It''s built into their bones.¡± I told her. ¡°But that doesn''t mean I want to form a pack, Ruksaar. We''ve had this conversation plenty of times and I¡¯m not entertaining it any longer.¡± With that I turned and started walking the long way back to the vige. ¡°Oh,e on, jiji!¡± Ruksaar followed behind me with quick steps. ¡°Wait up! Sometimes I thought if I really wanted to be an Alpha or not, but I guess I didn''t have a choice in that matter. I was-dlready an Alpha, an Alpha without a pack. Why was I ~ even created? Why was I so unique? y mefher and father had hidden me froin Rafael¡¯s view right after was born not only becausetwas a gifl but because I was sadifferent. Everything about me screamed foreigner and yet, I was of thisnd. What cruel fate had Mother Nature nned out for me? Not only did stick out like a sore thumb, I was also given a human mate. Content belongs to NovelDrama.Org What a cruel fate indeed... Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Chapter 9: The Meeting Abhay''s P.O.V Since I had gotten up well before sunrise, I decided to first clean up and then quickly changed into some loose fitting pants and a T-shirt and pack up my camera so I could head to the desert for some shots of the sunrise. I brushed on my way out and caught a motor van ride into the desert along with some other men and women who were heading to Jaipur. I was also able to get a cup of piping hot tea on the way along with some biscuits that I enjoyed in the cool morning breeze as the motor van left the cemented town road and entered the bumpy desert road. I found a suitable ce to get off and waved the other passengers goodbye as I hoisted my backpack over one shoulder and headed toward the desert to find a suitable spot for taking pictures. Once I''d found a spot, I set my backpack down and began taking pictures of the sun as it rose above the dunes at first with an orangish-pink hue and then slowly turned bright yellow. It was a magnificent view and thankfully, a herd of camels decided to pass by me at the same time and I asked the man in charge to help pose with his camels for a shot or two. By the time I was done taking photographs, it was almost eight in the morning and the heat had began to rise. I wiped some sweat from my brows. and took out my water canteen to take a few sips of water before I headed back. But when I finally packed up my backpack and looked around, all I saw was sand dunes for miles on end without a single trace of a camel or a van to help me get back to the vige. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± I pped my palm against my forehead in dismay. I might have gotten here easy but I hadn''t even thought about how I''d get back to the vige without any help. As far as I remembered, I wasn¡¯t that far out of that vige. maybe a couple kilometers at best...but in which direction was it again? The sand was confusing my sense of direction and I hadn''t even bothered to bring mypass with me! Wait a minute! I still had my phone! Fishing it out of my pocket, I flipped it open and called the hotel I was staying in, but no one picked up the phone. Just my goddamned luck! ¡°Wait, jiji! My head snapped up at the direction of the voice. There was someone else here! Awoman, most probably two. They could help me find my way back! Or maybe they have a camel or something that I could ride? I didn¡¯t want to get my hopes up but when I heard that voice again, I was sure that I wasn''t alone. Someone wasing from behind one of the sand dunes and by the direction of the voice, I could tell that they were heading towards me. So I stayed put and hoped for the best. Her hair came into sight first but no one would be able to tell by the way they blended so beautifully with the white sands in front of her. Today, she was wearing a ghagra choli in deep blur and sky. The ss embroidery work in her ghagra caught the light of the sun and reflected it on the sand making it look like the sand around her was glowing. For a second my heart stopped as her icy blue eyes scanned the area around her and then finallynded on me. The temperature dropped by several degrees and I felt like I was back inside my dream in that snow coveredndscape, looking back at the white wolf with the same blue eyes. Something passed between the two of us right then and there, something I had no clue about. But I felt it to my bones. the connection, the attraction and the tension. And by the way her eyes stared me down; I knew she felt it too. ¡°Jiji, why do you always-huh? Who are you?¡± The trance was broken and I shook my head to dear it. When I looked back at the duo, I found the ck ~ haired waman looking at me withe> open ifit¨¦rest. I cleared my threat befar¨¦''I answered. "Hi...L..Umin...m Abkay Rathore.¡± I waved atthem awkwardly. ¡°And I think..{m lost.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The dark haired woman looked surprised. ¡°You look familiar, have we met before? ¡°N-no.¡± I shook my head and cursed myself for stammering. ¡°But I was in the dhaba yesterday...in the afternoon. ¡°Ah! That''s why I thought I''d seen you before.¡± She pped her hands together. ¡°Well Abhay, you''re in luck. We''re headed back to town ourselves. You can tag along if you want to.¡± ¡°Ruksaar!¡± The silver haired woman spoke for the first time since I¡¯d seen her and her words sounded like a melody from some faraway ce to my ears, although the warning was clear in her voice. ¡°Oh,e on, jiji!¡± Ruksaar, now I finally had a name to one of the faces, batted her long eyshes at the silver haired woman. ¡°You certainly won''t say no to a lost traveler? Besides, we''re heading to the vige anyway. ¡°Fine,¡± the silver haired woman rolled her eyes in disinterest. ¡°He can tag along.¡± I blinked at her in surprise. ¡°Hey! You have a Indian ent!¡± The words were out before I could stop myself. Damnit! I wasn¡¯t normally this shy around women but being near these two was really intimidating. Why did I feel so intimidated by them anyway? ¡°Why wouldn''t she?¡± Ruksaar looked at me as if I was some kind of a weird specimen. ¡°She is Indian.¡± I looked at them both in surprise once again. She was Indian? How? She had bright silver hair and her > eyes wet¨¦ blue, not to mention her skin color was really light, just like foreigners. But she did have an Indian ent..maybe som¨¦one in H¨¦t family had married aforeigner? ¡°Come on, then, let''s get back already. I¡¯m starving.¡± Ruksaar spoke to me as the duo descended down the dune and began moving west. in the direction of the vige. ¡°Sure.¡± So the followed behind the women back to the vige. We walked the rest of the way to the vige in silence. Both Ruksaar and her sister were really fast, I could hardly keep up with them despite the long strides, but it was an experienced itself walking with . them. I dent know how they could: walk safast despite wearing such heavy¨¦mbroidered clothing but''they somehow managed it. At one point, tbe winds picked up, scattering sand everywhere and I had to Gover my eyes so as to block the particles from entering my eyes, but since I was standing right behind Ruksaar¡¯s sister, I got a whiff of her scent. The strange thing was, it wasn''t a scent I''d ever smelled before and yet I could tell what that scent was even though I knew such a thing didn''t have any scent, and it took me right back to my nightmare. Content belongs to NovelDrama.OrgExclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. Because that scent...it was the scent of snow. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Chapter 10: Indefinable Attractions Abhay''s P.O.V ¡°There you go!¡± Ruksaar skidded to a halt as soon as we entered the vige perimeters. ¡°We''ve helped you find your way back safe and sound. It was nice meeting you, Abhay! But I guess it''s time to part ways. ¡°D-do you guys w-want to go for lunch?¡± The words were out before I could stop myself. ¡°Consider it a thank you gift for getting me here safely.¡± Ruksaar¡¯s sister gave me an irritated re from over her shoulders while Ruksaar pped her hands together in excitement. I''ve never seen a woman as disinterested in me as Ruksaar''s sister, and yet, it felt like there was this invisible rope that was binding us together. The more time I spent near her, the more I felt drawn to her. And that was probably why I felt the need to stay near her longer than I had intended to. And what better way to spend time knowing them than to invite them to lunch? ¡°Thank you, Abhay!¡± Ruksaar skipped over to me and linked her hands through mine. ¡°Let''s go eat! I''m starved! I haven¡¯t even had breakfast today!¡± ¡°Really? Neither did I!¡± I told her with a smile. Somehow, it was a lot easier to talk to Ruksaar than it was to her sister and she also felt very weing. Even this tiny physical touch with her didn¡¯t make me feel anything other than a friendly gesture. ¡°Come on, Jiji!¡± Ruksaar removed one of her hands from mine so she could pull her sister along with her as we made our way to the nearest restaurant. We found another little dnaba not far from the hotel I was staying at. The interior was nice and coal and clean and it looked affordable enough to me. Ruksaar excused herself as we took our seats and went to the washroom so she could sprinkle some water on her face...at least that¡¯s what she told us before she left. So it was just her sister and me, all alone in the big restaurant as we sat face to face and waited for Ruksaar to arrive so we could order our food. The restaurant was pretty empty considering that it was about eleven in the morning which meant it was too early for lunch and toote for breakfast. I stared at Ruksaar¡¯s sister across the table from me and wondered what her name could possibly be ¡°So...what''s your name?¡± I asked outright, taking even myself by surprise. ¡°What?¡± Her voice was sharp as she gave me a narrow eyed nce. I noticed for the first time that hershes and eyebrows were a darker color, dark to the point that it almost looked ck. I was sure it wasn¡¯t makeup, though. As a photographer, I could tell when someone was wearing makeup and when someone was beingpletely natural ¡°I just...want to know your name. Why, is that not allowed?" I asked. ¡°No,¡± she gave me a sarcastic smile. ¡°But I don''t like to give my name to strangers. ¡°But we''re not strangers!¡± I told her. ¡°We have known each other for the past two hours. And I already told you my name, haven''t I? It''s only fair that you tell me yours. Even Ruksaar told me hers. ¡°Don''t get too familiar with her!¡± She snapped. ¡°And you still haven''t told me your name,¡± I smiled at her pleasantly, wondering to myself where in the heaves am I getting all this strength from? I always have a hard time talking to women and here I was, being the poster boy for chit chatting. ¡°Maybe I should call you Firangi? That sounds nice, doesn¡¯t it? It suits you.¡± ¡®I''m not a foreigner!¡± ¡°How would I know? You sure look like one.¡± I smiled I couldn¡¯t believe it, I was actually enjoying myself. I was enjoying teasing her and watching the cold, cold ice turn into blue fire every time she snapped at me. Her eyes were indeed gorgeous. I felt like I could drown in their icy depths for eternity. She looked like a misfit in this desert. The sand didn''t suit her. Her coolposure was more suitable in the snowynds of my dream, where she would live in harmony with the ice and snow and the white wolf from my dream. Sitting here, opposite to her in this restaurant, it all felt out of ce. It was strange how that one dream had made me so restless this morning and yet, here I was a few hourster, longing for the cool touch of the snow in and that I never knew existed until this morning. And from my dreams. As if sensing my thoughts, Firangi turned her eyes towards me and for the second time, my eyes locked with hers, brawn to blue and for an instant, everything else just s disappeared from sight. It was just like this-the first time our eyes met. YY . a ''d losttrack of everything arqund meand the only focus of mytife had been her. What is it abouther that draws me in like a ma? Why does looking in the blue, blue depths of her eyes make me feel like she''s the only thing I need in my life and nothing else. Everything else ceases to be important the instant I am near this woman. ~ I''ve never been so absorbed with any woman in.my entire life, especially hatike this. Then what makes her Ye) special? Why am I so. attractedtd her? Why do I have thts urge to-feel the lushness of herHps >) \! on mine, the softness of her skin under my fingers? Physical attraction of this magnitude isn¡¯ something that I''m familiar with. Why is it her? A girl I barely know...a girl I keep associating with a white wolf. ¡°Hey!¡± Startled out of my trance, I looked up to find Ruksaar sitting back on the table witkyus and adjusting her dupatta. A bit disoriented, I looked at the silvechaired woman that I now called Firangi, and for the first time, IExclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. ¡°NO. A! founder in the same state of. disorientation like myself. Her eyes lsoked unfocused and surprised but only for a few seconds. She was back to brooding and ring before I knew it and I felt a smile form on my lips. NovelDrama.Org ¡°Hey, Ruksaar.¡± I smiled at her instead. ¡°Are we ready to order yet? Because I''m starving le too! Jiji and I haven''t eaten anything sincest night either.¡± Ruksaar said absentmindedly as she went through the menu card lying on the table. ¡°So, have you two decided what you want yet? I''m feeling chilies.¡± ¡°Chilies? In this heat?¡± I raised my eyebrows at her. "No thanks, I have a really low heat tolerance. I wish I could though, but unfortunately...¡± I shrugged. ¡°Ah!¡± Ruksaar smirked. ¡°Well. Abhay, you have no idea what you''re missing out on.¡± ¡°Then why not try some of the spiciest curry in this restaurant and cut that out of your bucket list?¡± This time, it was Firangi who was smirking and it wasn''ta pleasant one. There was clear challenge in her eyes. ¡°Alright then, let''s try it.¡± I told her with an equally cunning smile. Two can y this game. ¡°Since you''re insisting. Firangi. ¡°Firangi?¡± Ruksaar gave us a knowing look as a wide smile appeared on her lips. ¡°I was gone for all of five minutes and you two are on nick name basis?¡± But we never got toplete our challenge or have lunch together, because amotion at the doorway to the restaurant distracted us right that moment. There was a lot of shouting and I think I heard the word ¡®thief being repeated at least a few times. ¡°What''s going on?¡± I asked a passing waiter. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s this girl outside with a child, I think she stole food from the kitchen.¡± The waiter said. ¡°But, not to worry, she¡¯s been caught.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± A girl with a child? Maybe she¡¯s a homeless person? ¡°What did she steal? I''ll pay for it, please, just her go.¡± I told the waiter. The waiter game me a confused look before turning towards the kitchen. ¡°Please wait, I''ll talk to the Manager.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Mikalya?¡± I turned towards the women te find them looking back towards the kitchen. Mikalya? Did Ruksaar just call Firangi Mikalya? So that''s her name! It suits her. But in that moment, what I failed to notice was how still both women have be, how their aura had changed. But I most definitely did notice when a low growl sounded in the room, like a wild animal''s warning growl when it tries to defend its territory. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Chapter 11: New Encounters Mikalya¡¯s PO. ¡°Mikalya?¡± Do you sense that? Ruksaar¡¯s mental voice rang loud and clear in my mind Yes. I told her. It¡¯s definitely a wolf and a strong one. I¡¯m guessing a Luna. But why would a Luna be here in the middle of nowhere? Ruksaar asked. Are you sure there¡¯s no longer any pack living here? If there were, then the falcons wouldn''t be the only pack trying to confront us. I told her. This is another rogue. But with a child? That''s surprising for a Luna to be out and about with the future heir just hanging off her arm. But I don¡¯t sense another wolf, Ruksaar said. How could you sense the child? Are they the thieves that just stole from the kitchen? I think so, I told her. But I can''t be sure. The child¡¯s aura is very mild but I can sense it. I think it''s a submissive. There weren''t any wolves in town before today; I think they arrived just now. Let''s go check. I got up from the chair along with Ruksaar...and halted. Abhay was staring at us curiously and despite my resolve, I felt a tiny glimmer of guilt at having to leave him here. He¡¯s been nothing but nice even when I had acted rude to him without reason, that much I had to give to him. He seemed like a genuinely nice man and I was definitely feeling the mating bond strengthen with each moment that passed between us. But I wasn¡¯t ready for such a bigmitment and he was human, someone who had no clue about the existence of shifters. I was weary of dragging him into this bloody world. ¡®I''m afraid there¡¯s been a little emergency,¡± I told him. ¡°We''ll have to leave right now.¡± ¡°What about lunch?¡± he asked with his eyebrows raised. ¡°Another time.¡± I told him. ¡°You promise? I''ll see you again, right?¡± There was a strange urgency in his voice that I could rte to See him again, though? Will I be able to do that without getting him involved? Without getting involved with him? ¡°Yes.¡± The answer came involuntarily. ¡°Tomorrow night, at the market.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± A slow, sincere smile lit up his handsome face. ¡°I''ll wait for you.¡± With that, I turned and left the restaurant and joined Ruksaar who was waiting for me at the exit. ¡°What was that all about?¡± She asked curiously as she looked back at Abhay onest time to wave him goodbye. ¡®lll exinter.¡± I told her and we both went after the scent of the Luna that wasing fram somewhere behind the restaurant. We followed the scent into an alley beside the restaurant and walked down the alley till we came to a dead end. There were dumpsters everywhere and the stench was masking the Luna¡¯s scent but it was present none the less. Moreover, the scents of food being cooked inside the kitchen mingled with the heavy afternoon air, making it incredibly hard to distinguish the scents. ¡°It''s stronger here.¡± Ruksaarmented as she spun around in a circle. ¡°But there''s no one here! Is she hiding in the dumpster? ¡°She''s a Luna.¡± I told her firmly. ¡°And she has too much pride to be hiding I-lookout! I pushed Ruksaar to the side just in time to avoid the knife that came at us from above. I backed up a couple of steps to@k at the woman who had justnded on the spot! had. been standing on a few seconds > ago. She was wearing a flowy ck robeand her face was covered I with a cloth resembling a hijab. She held aanife in one hand securely while her other hand went behind her back where she supported a sling like bag that was tied to her chest in the front. I suspected it was her baby. Only her dark brown eyes were visible and they were filled with age old anger. ~ ¡°You have the scent of a Luna.¡± I told her calmly as she turned to me with her knife ready to strike. ¡°What are you doing here all alone? That too with a baby.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± She hissed out instead. ¡°Did your Alpha send you here? Why is he hiding?¡¯ ¡°There''s no Alpha here, girli.¡± Ruksaar spoke to the woman, her voice calm. ¡°Just the two of us loners.¡± ¡°Rogues!¡± She held the knife closer to her body, ready to defend the baby at any cost. ¡°Such an insulting term,¡± Ruksaar tsked as she shook her head. ¡°We''re lone wolves. Loners! We just mind our own business and roam from ce to ce. Is that a crime now too?¡± ¡°Stay away from us!¡± She moved back further until her back was to the wall. "I don¡¯t associate with rogues! And don¡¯t even think about attacking! I''ma Luna!¡± ¡°And yet, here you are, in the middle of nowhere, running away from your pack while you have a baby with> you.¡± ttold her calmly. ¡°Looks to me like you are no better than aogue yourself.¡± Content belongs.to a ¡°Shut up!¡± She snapped. ¡°I''m not a rogue! I¡¯m a Luna! ¡°Really,¡± Ruksaar asked with her hands on her hip. ¡°Of which pack? And why are you alone here without the Alpha?¡± ¡°I...¡± she didn¡¯t have any answer and it led me to believe that maybe, she was running away from the Alpha. ¡°We are not here to hurt you,¡± I held up my hands palms first to show her that we meant no hard. ¡°You smell of blood. We can help you. if you want us to help.¡± ¡°How can you help me?¡± She asked almost desperately. ¡°You''re not alone! I can scent an Alpha!¡± ¡°There is no Alpha!¡± I told her firmly. ¡°It''s just us. Use your senses; count how many of us you can scent.¡± ¡°Impossible!¡± She spat. "I can scent an Alpha! He has to be nearby! ¡°Oh!¡± Ruksaar gave a smallugh. ¡°That''s not an Alpha you''re sensing, that¡¯s just her. She has the scent of an Alpha.¡±Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°A female Alpha..." The woman looked momentarily stunned as she sniffed the air again. ¡°It is you...but...how?¡± ¡°We can worry about the why''s and how''ster,¡± I extended my hand towards her. ¡°Let us help you. You are injured.¡± ¡°How can I trust you?¡± She asked. ¡°There are supposed to be no wolves here! Who are you two? And why are you offering to help me?¡± ¡°It''s because we''re wolves.¡± I told her. ¡°And we wolves stick together and care for each other, no matter which pack, state or country you belong to. She hesitated?out only for a few seconds before she lowered her knife and:st¨¦pped forwardand => ced ht her hand in mine. Her hand was trembling and even in this blistering heat, it felt cold tot the tow¨¦h. _ S NovelDrama.Org 4 ¡°Let''s get you to safety.¡± Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Chapter 12: Follow thy Heart Mikalya¡¯s PO. ¡°My name is Kashmira Shaw and I¡¯m from the DawnFrost pack in Jammu. It waster in the afternoon, after we had returned to our hotel room with Kashmira and her son and had had our lunch that Kashmira finally decided to tell us about herself. We were sitting on our bed in a circle and sipping on some karak chai (strong tea) as she breastfed her baby, whose name we learned was Kushal She had gotten rid of the clothes she was wearing earlier, since they were torn and dirty, and now she had one of Ruksaar''s ghagras on and her face was uncovered. Now that I could look at her, I could tell that she was very young. She had dark brown eyes with a slight tilt to theers and midnight ck hair that reached her waist. Her son however, had dark brown eyes simr to his mother but his hair was a lighter brown in color. ¡°I was born and raised in that pack itself and I found out that my mate was the new Alpha of the pack. We were mated within a few days after we found out we were mates.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t sound particrly thrilled about it.¡± I told her after listening to the disappointment in her voice. ¡®I''m seventeen years old.¡± She told us much to our surprise. ¡°I was mated at fifteen, without a chance to even experience what life is. And Arsn Ali, my mate, isn''t a very kind person.¡± I sucked in a deep breath as memories resurfaced. Suddenly, I wasn''t sitting in the hotel room in Gujarat, not in the present, but I was transferred a hundred years back into the past, to a pack where women were treated worse than dirt and rape and abuse were just as normal to the men like breathing. ¡°Did he abuse you?" I asked her through gritted teeth, snapping the doors closed on all the painful memories from a century ago. ¡°No!¡± Kashmira shook her head. "He wasn¡¯t cruel to me...he just...I didn¡¯t really have much choice in anything I did or said. Everything had to be as hemanded.¡± ¡°Is that why you ran away?¡± Ruksaar asked her frowning. ¡°Because he was suffocating you?¡± jo..." This time, there was reluctance to her voice that led me to believe that she didn¡® find it easy to share her secrets with strangers. ¡°It''s fine if you don¡¯t want to tell us why you left.¡± I told her. ¡°It¡¯s of no business to us anyway. However, have you decided what you are going to do next? You have a baby with you that needs constant caring and by the looks of it; you have no money and nowhere to go.¡± ¡°I know that!¡± She snapped at us before biting her lips and lowering her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. ¡°You''re not ready to share.¡± Ruksaar told her. ¡°We understand that and since you have nowhere to go, you can stay here with us. But you have to understand that we are guests here ourselves. We won''t be staying here long, another week at most. You''ll need to do something for yourself in the meantime.¡± Kashmira didn''t say anything for the longest time. She just hung her head and cradled her son close to her chest like he was her lifeline. So we left her alone. Ruksaar booked another single room for her right across from us and we helped her shift there and also gave her a few of our clothes. After ordering our dinner to our rooms and after having some privacy with no Kashmira around, Ruksaar came over to where I sat on the bed and plopped down next to me. ¡°So...¡± she smirked up at me. ¡°Abhay¡¯s really cute.¡± ¡°And? ¡°And I''m thinking about keeping him. ¡°He¡¯s not your mate!¡± I snapped at Ruksaar through gritted teeth and realized my mistake a little toote. Damn the sneaky woman. ¡°No. But he¡¯s yours, isn¡¯t he?¡± Ruksaar eximed gleefully. ¡°I knew there was something going on since yesterday! Your mood has been off ever since we came back from lunch. You realized it in that dhaba didn¡¯t you? That he¡¯s your m-" ¡°He¡¯s human.¡± I told her pointedly. ¡°So?¡± She frowned at me. ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that he¡¯s your mate! Not everyone is as lucky, Mink. To find your mate, here of all ces-* ¡°Exactly my point.¡± I grated. ¡°Here of all ces.¡± Ruksaar looked at me like I¡¯ve grown two heads. ¡°Really? That''s your excuse? I thought we were here so you could put your demons to rest. But from what I can see, your demons are still alive and eating you up from within. I sighed, putting the chaos and the screams to the back of my mind. ¡°It¡¯s not that easy to forget, Ruksaar. You were an infant when I burned that vige down; when I promised your dying mother that I''d take care of you. You didn¡¯t see the condition she was in wh-" "She was left in the desert with her stomach slit epen after they had removed m¨¦vrom her womb.¡± . Ruksaareut me off. ¡°You''ve told me that horrifying story plenty of times and Rs can understand why the things youdid still haunt you to this-Hay. You think you murdered several innocent souls, but in reafity, you liberated them from their prison.¡± ¡®I could''ve saved them instead.¡± I told her now, my hands clenched on myp. ¡°How? By going against all of Rafael¡¯s men and Rafael himself on your own?¡± Ruksaar snapped. ¡°You were fourteen for God''s sake! They would''ve killed you instantly or done much worse. No one else would havee to rescue you! You did a favor eradicating the entire vige and you''re the only one who refuses to believe that.¡± ¡°Can we not talk about this?¡± I told her instead. ¡°My demons are mine to face Ruksaar and I''ll face them in my own time.¡± ¡°You mean you''ll just keep ming yourself for something that you had no control over for the rest of your life!¡± Ruksaar stood up from the bed and walk Ked over to the door. > ¡®Seriqusly, Mink, I really don''t get you sometimes! I''m going out toget sortie air. Don¡¯t wait up forme. "With that she went out of ourhotel room and mmed the door shut on my face. Ruksaar was young, not that much younger thanahe but she was young. In her spirit and in her heart. She didnt have the shadows in hee eyes that Phaun ed mine. She diddt hear the screams in her ears when she Slept at night. She didn¡¯tsee the red and gold haze of the fir¨¦ as it seared through the soft ahd tender flesh and gnawed at their bones. C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org It had been a nightmaree to life watching the entire vige burn and knowing that I was the one who did that. I knew what my mother''sst wish had been, and I understood that every other woman in that vige had wanted the same freedom. But that freedom hade apanied with vicious pain. And I had been the cause of it. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Chapter 13: Firangi Abhay''s P.O.V It was snowing again. The ground waspletely white. This part of the valley didn¡¯t usually get much snow, but it was unusually cold this year. And I knew that it would only get colder, winter only a whisper in the air and yet it howled with ferocious chill all around me. I looked at the waterfall in front of me, untouched by the winter chill. Jnarna, that was what we called it. The literal Hindi trantion of a waterfall, but it just sounded right to us. It was freezing outside but I knew it would be nice and warm inside the pack house. It would also be noisy with the new packmates. But I liked that noise. It was weing. It was home. And so was she. Something dropped to the ground in front of my feet. distracting me from the view. A sense of d¨¦ja vu threatened to overwhelm me as I looked down to see what it was. It was only a speck in the vast sea of snow but it stood out amongst the white. It was in the shape of a tiny droplet but the warmth coming from it melted the snow a little, caused a slight dent as it was absorbed into the cold earth. Blood. It was a drop of blood. The temperature suddenly dropped by at least ten degrees as another drop of blood fell on the ground to join the other droplet. Then another. And another. The drops weren¡¯ting from the sky and this time, I didn''t need to look down to know that the blood was actually dripping down my fingertips. I raised my hands in front of my face to inspect the blood and saw that there was blood everywhere. It was running down my arm as it colored my sleeves. Confusion swarm in my head as I tried to register why I was bleeding again. The only thing I felt was cold, there was no pain. I looked down at the ground and watched in shock as the ground beneath me turnedpletely red. It was like I was standing in a river of blood. It flowed freely in the snow, heading towards the slope before taking the plunge downward to meet the waters of the Jharna, turning it a dark pink it color. But I didn''t see the end of the waterfall. I felt something trickle down my forehead and I raised my bloody hands to wipe it away, only toe up with more blood. I felt a sad smile form on my lips. This was it then, this was how it all ends. My vision blurred, ck spots danced in front of my eyes and I knew I didn¡¯t have my time left. I only wished I could hold her once again. Just this one last time before I was gone. Our time together had been so short. Too short for her to remember me through eternity. I turned back to look at the vast fields of snow that were now drenched in blood. And there she was, in her white fur and soulful blue eyes. There was blood in her coat but that didn''t diminish her beauty; she would always be the most beautiful woman I''ve ever seen, no matter what form she took. She was running towards me with all her might but she was too far. It was of no use. It was already toote I raised my hand towards her as if to say goodbye, but my vision blurred further, the dark spots increased...and then I was falling back, into the turbulent waters of Jharna. This was it. A mournful howl filled the air a split secondter...and my vision went nk. I gasped awake in my bed, cold sweat drenching my body and my lungs hungry for air. It was that dream again, the same one I had seen when I had firstid eyes on the woman with white blonde hair and blue eyes, the woman who. reminded me of a wolf. Instinctively, I turned to look at the window at my back and saw, as I''d expected, the sun barely rising on the horizon. Another early morning dream predicting my future death. This isn¡¯t making any sense and even though I don''t believe in superstitions, thought it more my mother¡¯s domain than mine, I couldn''t help but feel a shiver running up my spine at the thought of all the blood. After having caught my breath, I brought my hands up in front of my face just to make sure there wasn¡¯t any blood on them and then questioned myself for being ridiculous. I wasn''t scared of early morning dreams that had a chance ofing true. It couldn¡¯t be a foreshadowing of my death, that idea was just absurd! I was a young, healthy man whe had decades to live! But this was the second time I was seeing this dream and that too so close to the first one. What was happening to me? And what was this snow covered ce that felt like home? Even now, I felt the hum of it in my bones. The more I thought about the snow covered mountains, the waterfall called Jharna, I felt a deep sense of rightness in my soul. As if that ce was calling to me. If I was being honest to myself, I thought that Firangi would be more at home in those snow cappednds than me. A smile tilted up my lips as I thought about the woman with the snow white hair again. Yes. she would definitely feel at home in those mountains. If fact. the cool energy radiating from her spoke of the snow. Or maybe I needed to shake myself awake from these weird thoughts of white wolves and snow covered mountain tops. As soon as the thought came to my mind, my phone began to ring with an all too familiar ringtone. Grabbing my Nokia from the bedside table, I flipped it open and put it to my ears. ¡°Good morning, Maa.¡± ¡°Good morning, beta!¡± (Son) Came my mother¡¯s familiar voice from the other side of the line. ¡°I''m so sorry to call you this early in the morning, but I just couldn''t help myself! Why didn''t you call me yesterday?¡± Yup! I knew this was going to happen. Whenever I missed out on calling her atnight, before her bedtime, ry mom would wake me~ up early hext morning just so she> couldbe sure that I wasn''t being kidnapped or assaulted by people forthe oddest of reasons, Honestly, Tight think that it¡¯s justa ¡®my mom thing¡¯, but I''m pretty sure every mom out there thinks the same. Content belongs to NovelDrama.Org It''s okay mom, it¡¯s only five twenty nine in the morning,¡± I told her sarcastically before getting a warning ¡®Abhay¡¯ from her. "It''s okay, I was up already and sorry for not calling you sooner, I had a few things on my mind ¡°Oh, really?¡± She asked, sounding really suspicious. ¡°And what''s this ¡®thing¡¯s'' name?" ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I asked, professing innocence. ¡°The girl''s name.¡± She asked directly. ¡°Because if you missed calling your mother then it definitely has to be for a girl.¡± Damnit! How does she know that I missed calling her because I was obsessing over my white haired Firangi? Does she have spies over here too? ¡°Oh, don''t worry; I¡¯m not spying on you.¡± She said casually. ¡°I¡¯m your mother; I know what goes through your mind all the time.¡± My jaw literally hit the floor in shock. ¡°MOM!¡± Her beautiful tinklingughter floated through the line, making me feel homesick. It was a sad reminder that I haven''t been home to my parents for about seven months now and I missed them deeply. But mest of all, I''m missing my mom''s home cooked meals the most and the spicy food here isn¡¯t going good for the tummy at all Sighing. I told her what she actually wanted to hear. ¡°I don¡¯t know her name yet, but she has this beautiful white blonde hair and blue eyes.¡± ¡°Oh dear! A foreigner!¡± My mother gasped. ¡°Of all the beautiful Indian women, why on earth did you have to like a Firangi? Now you''re just going to follow her abroad and leave your family just like your Kittu Uncle did!¡± ¡°Mom, stop being so dramatic,¡± I told her exasperated. ¡°And Kittu Mama (uncle) didn¡¯t follow that foreigner to Canada, he got a job there and married a foreigner! There''s a difference! ¡°Oh, shut up!¡± My mom scolded. ¡°Don''t contradict me and yes, it is the same thing when the result is the same! He hardly visits us at _< home anymore! You remembenthe last time he visited us? Two years agonhat''s when! At least now get to-see you twice or thrice. every year but once you marry this Firangi, I''d hardly see you once in five years!¡± N ¡°Mom, travelling via ne takes a lot of money and you know how expensive foreign countries are?¡± I tried to exin the workings to my mom but knew she''d only twist my words against me anytime now. Like most dadian mother¡¯s she hated being) oven wrong. So I justturned thestopic in another direction...a difection that was sure te.grab her attention. ¡°By the way, the girl ¡®I like¡¯ isn''t a Firangi. She''s Indian. I¡¯m guessing the hair and eyes are because of some gic mutation, albumins or perhaps a foreign ancestor down the line?¡± Content belongs to NovelDrama.Org ¡°Oh!¡± Mom paused, giving it a thought. "I guess you might be right.¡± She admitted defeat.. finally. But then, I might just have spoken too soon. Because the next thing she said was:C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org ¡°Now, tell me all about your Indian Firangi. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Chapter 14: Getting to know you Abhay''s P.O.V I stood in the middle of the market ce, admiring a couple who stood in front of a colorful bangle shop. The man wore a white tunic with loose fitting white cotton trousers and a rainbow coloured turban on his head while the woman was wearing a bright yellow and red ghagra choli. Her dupatta was. hanging off of her head and that¡¯s how I knew she was unmarried. The man was courting her and he was buying her a set of yellow and green bangles to go with her ghagra. Taking my camera out of my bag silently, I turned the sh off and took a few quick snaps of the couple as the man ced the bangles into his girlfriend¡¯s awaiting hands and she epted them with a delighted smile. Surrounded by a backdrop of so many colours, they looked magnificent. ¡°Shouldn''t you be asking permission before you take someone¡¯s picture?¡± I nearly jumped out of my skin at that half-whispered question by my ear and my camera slipped out of my hands. I yelped and went to catch it but another person beat me to it as she plucked it out of mid air and held it in her hands to examine it. ¡°You came!" I said in relief which was soon reced by nerves. God, how long will I be this intimidated by her? ¡°I promised, didn''t 1?¡ã She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, which was a darker shade of blonde than her silvery hair. ¡°Yeah...¡± I scratched my head nervously. I hadn''t actually expected her to show up today at all. In fact, I had a feeling that she didn¡¯t quite like me for some reason or the other and I felt desperate to prove to her that I wasn''t as bad as she thought I was. ¡°Nice pictures.¡± She said as she went through the gallery. ¡°You''ve got talent.¡± ¡°T-thank you.¡± Damn it! Me and my stupid nerves. She looked up at me with her ocean blue eyes with a knowing look. Hershes were long and dark and her lips were a natural pink that many women would envy. Today she wore a ghagra in the same colour as her eyes, the blue of the ocean on a sunny day and it was adorned with severalrge round shaped ss ornaments that caught the light and sent it in all directions. ¡°Here,¡± she held out my camera towards me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry: you aren''t the first person to find me intimidating. It happens to a lot of people.¡± My eyes widened in surprise. Was she a mind reader too? How did she know what I was thinking? Or did everyone have the same reaction to her like I did? Realizing that I was stalling, I stretched both my hands to take the camera from her and one of my hands brushed hers lightly. It was the faintest of touches but the electricity that zapped through my arm felt like a thousand volts. I was lucky that I was still holding my camera after the zap I experienced. I thought that I was probably the only one who felt it but when I looked at her, I realized that she might have felt it too. Her eyes were wide just the tiniest of fractions but the surprise on her face told me what I needed to know. There was definitely a connection there and we were both feeling it. It gave me more confidence in myself and I promised not to be such a bbering fool around her. ¡°D-did you have dinner?¡± I asked her, realizing that I still need time to build up my confidence and I wanted to change the subject so it didn¡¯t feel awkward anymore. ¡°No.¡± She shook her head and kept her hands behind her back. ¡°Did you? lo." I shook my head with a small smile. ¡°Do you want to grab dinner? You can choose the restaurant.¡± ¡°Sure. My treat.¡± She shrugged but I instantly denied. ¡°No, I can''t have you paying for my dinner!¡± I told her because that was how I was raised. A gentleman never makes a woman pay for her meal. ¡°Let''s just say this is to make up for leaving so soon yesterday.¡± She shrugged her lean shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t like to keep dues.¡± Was that an insult or apliment? I couldn''t tell from the tone of her voice but I chose to go with it. After all, it''s veryrare that a girlllike shows.interest in me. And Mikalya was more of a woman than a girl. Somehow, even though shedooked tobe i in her mid-20¡¯s, she felt older, like those old soul peopl&you hear about but rarely get to see. Content belongs to NovelDrama.Org ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± Mikalya started walking towards a dhaba and I followed behind her silently, realizingter that it was the same restaurant that we had had lunch in yesterday...well, I had lunch and had to awkwardly ask the waiters to return the dishes since mypany had left me. I also realized that probably, and I hope I was right about this, Mikalya felt bad abgut leaving me alone yesterday-and decided to show the> people hr here that I wasn''t dumped-or humiliated or rather, she really: had an emergency which is why $ she left. Ors was an utter fool and ¡ì she was about to humiliate me once again. Let¡¯s hope my luck with women had improved in that aspect. Conten belongs to NovelDrama.Org ¡°How''s your spice tolerance?¡± Mikalya asked out of the blue, catching me off-guard. ¡°Huh?¡± I blinked several times to grasp what she had told me before it registered in my brain. ¡°I can¡¯t really handle spicy food...¡± I told her awkwardly as I scratched the back of my neck. ¡°Oh,e on! Live a little! When I looked up at Mikalya, she was smiling as she ced her hands under her chin. Something about her aura felt different than yesterday. She seemed to be in a yful mood. I don''t know if it was the change in her mood that made me say it or the rxed atmosphere that gave me the confidence, but I just blurted it out. "Will you model for me?¡± The reason for my question was very simple. Mikalya was a stunning woman andtwanted to capture her beauty with:ny camera. Andit = => wouldn¡¯tbe for the public eye. I knew I was being selfish and both national andvtiternational brands would go wit¨¦''to have a woman like h¨¦r model for then, but I wanted to-keep her hidden. I wanted her to be just my model, my muse; no one else''s. Mikalya¡¯s eyes widened in surprise as she stared at me in awe. But something told me that she didn¡¯t seempletely opposed to the idea. ¡°I''ve never modeled before." ¡°Why?¡± I was genuinely curious. ¡°You are stunning! It''s impossible that no one has ever scouted you before! Especially with your unique looks.¡± She gave me an almost rueful smile. ¡°I don¡¯t want attention. I just want to disappear from sight and be left alone. I''ve never been an extrovert. ¡°I think I understand what you mean,¡± and oddly enough, I felt like I did. ¡°You don''t seek attention, attention seeks you. And...I like collecting pictures of beautiful...extraordinary things. If you want. your pictures will be safe with me. Of course, I''ll give you a copy of all photos I take.¡± ¡°So you want me to be your personal model?¡± Her lips tilted up in a smirk. ¡°Kinky.¡± Damn! I could feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment instantly. ¡°No! God no! That¡¯s not what I meant! I''m not that kind of a person, I¡¯m-'' Before I could finish my sentence, Mikalya burst outughing. It wasn''t the shy, slow giggles that I had heard some women use, but a full on throaty laughter that made you want to smile along with her. Her face transformed from beautiful to drop-dead gorgeous as sheughed, making a few heads turn towards her in interest. ¡®I''m sorry.¡± She said, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes. ¡°But it was fun messing with you. I haven''tughed like that in ages.¡± ¡®I see.¡± I still felt warmth on my cheeks but I was smiling toa. I don¡¯t know what this woman was doing to me, but I didn¡¯t want it to stop. Because I hadn¡¯t felt like this in ages either. ¡°Alright. Tomorrow then.¡± She told me suddenly. ¡°Tomorrow?¡± I asked, confusedExclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. ¡°Let''s have your kinky photoshoot tomorrow.¡± She smiled. ¡°I would like to get to know you better.¡± Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Chapter 15: Entitled Mikalya¡¯s PO. ¡°Hey! How''d it go?¡± Ruksaar bombarded me as soon as I entered the hotel room, just like I had expected her to do. What I hadn''t expected was that Kashmira and her son would be in the room with her, having dinner and gossiping away like they were long-lost sisters. I frowned at the arrangement but didn¡¯tment on it. Ruksaar and I would need to have a long discussion soon. ¡°It was good.¡± I told her truthfully as I went into the bathroom to freshen up and change. I wasn¡¯t used to ghagras and dresses, but Rajasthan had a strict dress code. ¡°Good?¡± Ruksaar raised her eyebrows at me as she looked me up and down. ¡°Says the woman who got all sparkly for the date.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a date.¡± I gave her a re as soon as I saw that stupid smile on her face. ¡°And no, I will not hear any more discussions on this topic.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± She puffed her cheeks before turning to Kashmira. ¡°Why don''t you put your son down for sleep so we can talk?¡± Kashmira looked from me to Ruksaar and back before nodding and setting her son, Kushal down on the bed beside her. ¡°Il knew this wasing, but I was hoping to avoid it.¡± She sighed and looked down at her hands, her long dark hair in a neat braid that was slung over one shoulder. ¡°We''ll be leaving Rajasthan next week.¡± I got straight to the point, without waiting for Ruksaar. She had a habit of sugar-coating the reality and it often led to confusion and misinterpretation. ¡°We can book you one room at this hotel till the end of this month but after that you¡¯re on your own. So you need to start nning and find a job. ¡°Job?¡±Kashmira looked at me and Ruksaar in surprise. ¡°I''ve never worked! How-what am I supposed to do? Dear god! Was I hearing her right? I looked at Ruksaar for confirmation and she had the same puzzled look on her face as she turned towards me. So it wasn''t just me who thought that Kashmira sounded like an entitled brat. ¡°Then what do you n to do to feed yourself and your son?¡± I asked her, a bit too harshly. ¡°How do you n to buy things for your son? Pay for his education?¡±Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Can''t I go with you?¡± She asked in a small voice that would''ve been inaudible had it not been for our superior hearing. ¡°You think we''ve adopted you? Just because you are a Luna?¡± I snapped. ¡°Ruksaar and I have worked our entire life to get where we are today. We had to do all kinds of add jobs even when the world believed women are only good for cooking and fucking! We don''t need to babysit a little brat and her kid, especially someone who''s only gaing to be a freeloader.¡± ¡°Mink!¡± Ruksaar snapped before lowering her eyes. ¡°You don''t need to be this harsh. She''s only a child- ¡°I was only a child too, Ruksaar.¡± I cut her off. "I was only a child too.¡± Her eyes widened as she realized what I was talking about, but I didn''t want to listen to anyone anymore. Putting on my sandals, I went out of the room and mmed the door behind me. It was past ten at night and women weren''t supposed to be out and about at this hour but I wasn¡¯t just a woman. I was a wolf, The streets were empty now, with not a single woman in sight. Some locals, all men of older ages, had ~ gatheredin small groups to qi a . . > consume their locally made ricer palm alcohol around small borfires or inNront of the closed shutters of tbe ¡®shops. I pulled my odiani over my head securely and begarrto run using the shadows. Content belongs to It was a good thing I had gotten out of my ¡®sparkly clothes¡¯ as Ruksaar had put it, and changed into a ck skirt and a ck blouse with a red odhni. The designs on this were cotton embroidery, so it wouldn''t stand out. Once I was at the outskirts of the vige-town, I ran. I let my wolf take over and soon the land was blurring past me as I ran with the speethof the wolf. My feet got slowed down by the sand and I wanted desperately to change into> my wolf so I could run faster, but! didn¡¯twwant to risk discovers. After running for ten minutes, I turned ba¨¦k and headed back to th¨¦ hotel b¨¦fore I got too far into the desert. Another fifteen minutester, I slowed down my footsteps, no longer running with my wolf speed as I neared the town, only to spot someone jogging at the periphery. ¡°Abhay?¡± I whispered to myself. My breath wasing in pants and I was sweating. But there was no mistaking the figure that was jogging on the lone path that was the only way in and out of town. I slowed to a step momentarily before I began walking towards him. There was no avoiding a confrontation since we were on the same path and he had already seen me, so I decided to say goodnight to him anyway. I needed to get back to the hotel and take a warm shower since the temperature had cooled down significantly. ¡°Mikalya?¡± Abhay asked in surprise as he neared me. He was dressed in sweatpants and a vest and a towel was casually slung over his shoulders. He was also carrying a small backpack which, I¡¯m assuming, had his camera. ¡°What are you doing here thiste at night? Surprisingly, I didn¡¯t sense any judgment in his tone: just worry and it helped calm my nerves a bit. ¡®I was feeling restless.¡± I decided to go with half-truths. "So I came out for a walk.¡± ¡°You must have gone a long way.¡± Abhay mused as he looked at my sweat drenched form. ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared?¡± ¡°Scared?¡± the question caught me off-guard until I realized that he had no idea who I really was. ¡°I guess not. I like taking walks at night.¡± ¡°Here,¡± he offered me his towel. ¡°I haven''t used it yet so it¡¯s clean. Right now, you need it more than I do.¡± ¡°Thanks...¡± I took the towel from him to wipe my face and instantly, I was swarmed bywnis scent. Masculine and spicy A surprisingbo for. someane who can''t stand spice> Hmm.maybe it was his cologh¨¦ or just the deodorant he was using? whatever it was, his scent-Helped calm my nerves. ¡°I''ll wasff and return it tomorrow.¡± ¡°Do you...wanna hang out?¡± Abhay asked in his familiar nervous tone. ¡°I''ve got wine...¡± ¡°Damn!¡± I smirked at his blush. ¡°Lead the way.¡± Chapter 16 Chapter 16: Realization Mikalya''s P.O.V "Where did you get this?" I asked Abhay as I took a sip of the alcohol and felt the sting right down to my stomach. Damn, this was potent! "Some locals were sipping on it and I got interested." Abhay shrugged broad shoulders, his eyes a bit unfocused as he looked at the fire burning in front of us. "I was pretty sure I got riffed off but that''s alright, I guess." Yup. He was hammered. But I found out that it was a good thing. His speech was more continuous now and he was no longer stuttering nervously in front of me. I''d lived almost a hundred years, seen and experienced several lovers, but there was just something about Abhay that I couldn''t shake. He was adorable yet masculine; nervous yet brave and shy yet forward. He was a mix of contrasting characters and yet, they all seem toe together very nicely. Was I feeling this way because he was my mate? "Sooo...what''s bothering you?" I looked up into his golden-brown eyes in surprise and found him looking at me intensely. Probably for the first time in my life, I felt a bit self-conscious. "What makes you think something is bothering me?" "I don''t know," he shrugged again as he took a gulp of his wine and winced. "Gut feeling I guess. But when I looked at you just now, you seemed to be lost deep in thought. Like you were miles away even though you''re sitting right next to me." Was the pull of the mating bond affecting him or was he just good at gut feelings? I couldn''t tell. "Yeah," I sighed and turned away from his piercing eyes. "Just some trivial matters...nothing important." "You can tell me if it''s troubling you." His voice came out a little slurred. "What was that saying? Two heads are better than one?" He scratched his head in confusion and I couldn''t help butugh at the scene. "You''re drunk." I told him, still smiling. Abhay looked at the bottle in his hand before screwing the lid back on and putting it inside the bag. Then he lifted his hands up as if in surrender and gave me an adorable smile. It made me smile wider. "It''s better if you don''t get involved with me." I finished my bottle of ''wine'' and put it aside to disposeter. "But seeing that you''re dead drunk, I''m pretty sure you won''t remember any of this tomorrow." "Oh?" he scratched the back of his neck once more before giving me a sheepish smile. "I guess I am a bit drunk..." "Remember when we had to leave in a hurry yesterday? At the restaurant?" I asked because I wasn''t sure his memory was any good in this state. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "You mean when you ditched me?" He looked at me with puppy dog eyes and as his lips puffed out in a pout. "Everyone thought I was some kind of creep since I drove you both away. The waiters kept giving me weird looks when I told them to take back the order and they even charged me extra!" "Wow..." I stared at Abhay in awe as he continued to pout. I didn''t know if I should be feeling guilty or amused but I''ve never had anyone be this frank to me even while drunk. I guess it was really true when they say that drunken people always speak the truth; at least for Abhay it''s true. He seems to be living up to his name, fearless. "Oh, shoot!" He covered his mouth with his hand a secondter, his eyes turning as big as saucers. "I wasn''t supposed to tell you that." This time, I couldn''t hold back myughter. Clutching my stomach, I fell back onto the sand as Iughed like I never had before. For the first time, I felt free and alive. I had never imagined I couldugh like this. I didn''t care that I was getting sand in my hair; I didn''t care that my dress was getting dirty and I didn''t care whoever was looking. Had I everughed this freely before in my life? I couldn''t remember. When I finally got myughter under control and looked at Abhay, he was looking down at me with a grin on his face. The light from the fire illuminated one half of his face, making him look even more attractive. "You look beautiful when youugh." He too fell back on the sand beside me. "You looked so tense when I met you a while ago...like you were angry. But you don''t look like that now." "I was angry." I told him, looking up at the starry sky instead of his face because it was a distraction. ¡°As I was saying earlier... the reason I had to leave yesterday was because of an emergency. We encountered a runaway girl and her child who had nowhere to go and we helped her get a room at our hotel and new clothes. We''re taking care of her for now but I think she expects us to do so forever." "Oh?" Abhay''s voice sounded confused. "How old is she?" "Seventeen." "Wha-and she has a kid!" His cat''s eyes looked at me in astonishment. "That''s illegal! What happened to her?" "I don''t know." I shrugged. "She won''t tell but from the way she speaks, I could tell she had never witnessed any hardships in life until now." "Or maybe she''s good at hiding it." It was Abhay''s turn to shrug. "Maybe she thinks you''ll take care of her because of your nature. I don''t know what it is but you feel like the protector kind of person. Not everyone would trust a seventeen year old with a child and give her a ce to stay and food and clothing. You did all that and that''s why she trusts you to protect her."Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. Shit! Why hadn''t I taken that into consideration before? Listening to Abhay now made me feel like a fool to not have noticed it before! And even though Abhay didn''t know who or what I was, he was able to depict the situation clearly and had instantly pointed out what I had been missing right from the start. Kashmira wasn''t acting like an entitled brat! She was regarding me as her Alpha. Alphas were supposed to look after their pack; they were supposed to nurture and protect those under them! In all my years of living, I had tried my best to avoid the facts that everybody else could see. Wherever I had gone, people both under and above me had followed my lead. Everyone had either been too scared or weary to get involved with me or just tried to win the power y. My Alpha side had always pushed against both humans and supernatural alive. It was the main reason the Falcon flock had called me out as soon as we had arrived, because they were afraid of the bigger predator in the area. And this was my first time encountering a runaway wolf who had voluntarily left her pack. There was no doubt in my mind as to what was going on. I was starting to attract a pack, lone wolves that didn''t belong to anyone...and I had to leave before this became serious. Chapter 17 Chapter 17: Leaving Mikalya''s P.O.V The first ray of the sun woke me up from a deep slumber and the first thing I noticed was that my back was aching. I tried to shift into a better position without opening my eyes, but found that my bed had turned into granite. The cool morning air felt good on my skin. After enduring the heat of the desert for so long, I was d to be back in the mountains where I could once again enjoy the cold weather and ditch those god-awful skirts for good. But why was there sunlight inside my room? I brought my hand up to cover my eyes and discovered there was something grainy on them that were irritating my skin. Snapping my eyes open when, I finally realized what was going on. I wasn''t back in the Himyan mountains...I was sleeping in the desert sand with Abhay next to me. The small nket that had been thrown over our bodies wasn''t enough to keep the cold away and Abhay''s curled up body beside me was proof enough that the temperature was indeed very low this early in the morning. The sand underneath us made for a horrible bed and I must have been more tired and drunk than I hadprehendedst night to have fallen asleep like this. As for Abhay, it had be very clear that he had been dead wasted. However, even whilst drunk, he had put a cover on us so we didn''t freeze to death, and he had ced his hand under my head so I could use it as a pillow. I watched as the sun''s rays fell on Abhay''s face, casting shadows of hisshes onto his cheeks. He was a handsome man. However, there were no hard angles to him. His eyes didn''t hold any troubles or signs of hardship, although I could tell he was a hard worker from the calluses on his hands. He was stable; probably grew up in a nice and loving family. When heughed, heughed freely and he wasn''t afraid of showing his emotions even when he was nervous or embarrassed. It was a reminder of just how different our worlds were. When I had first met him, I hadn''t actually been angry at him, I realize that now. I had been angry at this ce, thisnd. I had lost too much to these sands and meeting my mate here, a hundred yearster hadn''t been an ideal situation. But the situation wasn''t ideal now either. He was a human, pure and without sin, while my hands were stained red. And there was yet more troubleing. It would be better if I stayed far away from him, better yet, never see him again...but when I looked at his handsome face again, I couldn''t move from my spot. I kept on watching him as the sun rays grew stronger and the sands absorbed the heat. His brows wrinkled as a few crows flew by, letting their presence known and then he opened those beautiful golden-brown eyes. "Morning." I murmured, trying not to startle him. But it seems like he''s a lightweight after all since he pressed his fingers to his temples and groaned from his hangover. I couldn''t help but smile.Content provided by N?velDrama.Org. "Sorry...I have a huge headache." Abhay groaned in a husky voice and I helped him sit up and dusted off the sand from his face and hands so they don''t get inside his eyes. "It''s alright." I told him. "Tell me where you''re staying so I can send you off." "But...that''s my job..." he looked at me with wide eyes and a pout and it made my lips tilt upwards. "Next time." I told him without much thought. "I don''t think you''re in any position to get me to my room first." "Alright." He sighed in defeat. After I helped him pack up his stuff, I took him to the hotel he was staying in, which was only a block away from mine and then I helped him up to his room. "We were supposed to meet up for the shoot today..." he told me, a bit hesitantly, as I was about to leave. The photoshoot! I had forgotten that I had promised to meet him for it today. "How about we do itter in the afternoon? After 5 perhaps? We both need some rest and you have a hangover." His face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You promise to meet me?" "Yes." I told him sincerely. "I''ll see you today." What I didn''t tell him was the fact that this was going to be thest time. * * "You didn''t have to be so mean." Were Ruksaar''s opening statement as soon as I entered our hotel room. "It took me some time to get her to calm down after she started bawling her eyes out like her mom had just disowned her!" "We need to leave." Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "Yes! Exactly what I was gonna sa-WHAT?" I sighed and ced a hand on her shoulders. "We need to leave Ruksaar. And if you want to help Kashmira get settled in here then that''s fine, you can help her settle in. But we leave tomorrow. I''ve booked bus tickets to Delhi and we''ll catch a flight from there." "But...but...I thought we''d be here for another week." Ruksaar blinked in confusion. "What happened? Is this because of your mate?" "Partly yes." I told her the truth. "But it''s mostly because of Ruksaar. The reason she was so upset that I scolded her wasn''t because she''s a fragile or delicate person...it''s because she''s starting to see me as her Alpha." Ruksaar stayed quiet for some time, digesting the information I had just given her. I knew she wouldn''t understand our situation right away, but I gave her time to acknowledge it. "But you are an Alpha...you were born as an Alpha and you defeated a powerful Alpha at only fourteen!" Ruksaar shook her head. "Why is you being an Alpha suddenly a problem?" "Me being an Alpha has always been the problem, Ruksaar." I told her truthfully. "You just haven''t noticed it because we either lived in isted areas or areas that didn''t have much pack activity. I had shielded you for your entire life because the falcons had been right, there is no such thing as a lone Alpha. Sooner orter, I would start attracting wolves to me, forming a pack. It''s in my nature." "And what''s so wrong with that?" Ruksaar asked harshly. "Why can''t we have a pack? Why can''t you ept members?" "Because there is no ce for a Female Alpha in this world." It was a truth I knew in my bones. "If I form a pack, no male Alpha will leave me alone. There will be war and I don''t have the strength to live through another nightmare. And I can''t put more lives in danger. It''s a cruel world out there and Alphas don''t just fight Alphas, they go for the weak and the old. That''s why we need to leave. We must leave before Abhay or Kashmira form a bond with me." The longer they stayed, the deeper their bond would get and that was something I couldn''t let happen. Once they be a part of my pack, more would automatically follow and my pack would keep getting bigger and bigger until it got big enough to attract attention from a male Alpha. Not to mention that Kashmira was a Luna with a child; her mate wille for her any day. I couldn''t be here when that time came. I just couldn''t. So I will leave everything behind. Kashmira...and Abhay. Chapter 18: A Stolen Moment Abhay''s P.O.V I got to the hotel where Mikalya was staying, earlier than expected because I wanted her to see me as someone who was serious and intentional about our rtionship, and not some yer who just wanted to be with her for her beauty alone. Already, I could feel my heart rate spiking up with every minute that passed which just told me that she was close by. I couldn''t exin it, but there was this special connection I felt with Mikalya that I hadn''t felt with anyone in my entire life. And just then...I heard it...the sound of her footsteps as she descended the stairs down to the lobby. My hands instinctively went to my camera that I had strapped to my neck just in case. And now, I knew that it was the best choice I ever made. How was it that every colour she wore made her look even more gorgeous? Yesterday afternoon, it had been blue. Thenst night, it had been ck. And now, she was wearing a red ghagra-choli with a white dupatta and I felt like my eyes had just rediscovered the colour red. "I knew you had a habit of sneaking pictures." Mikalya smiled as she looked at the camera roll and the pictures I had taken of her. I hadn''t meant to show these pictures to her. They were supposed to be my secret, my personal collection. I had shot a few pictures of her when she had not notices. There weren''t for the public...but when it came to this woman, I didn''t always act like myself. She gave me her hand, and for a second, I just stared at it...before I took her hand in mine and brought it to my lips...and ced a gentle kiss on the other side of her palm before letting go immediately, as if afraid that someone would see the intimate contact and think wrongly of us. She burst outughing, holding her sides even as confusion clouded me because I didn''t understand the reason for herugh. It just seemed like she had caught onto a joke thatpletely eluded me. "What''s funny?" I tilted my head to the side, but herughter was contagious, and it made me smile along with her. "You are so shy, no wonder you are still a virgin." she said, herughter dying down. "Oh... I don''t think..." How? How did she know I was still a virgin? I don''t think that ever came up in conversation before... There was, however, nothing I could say to defend myself because we both knew she was telling the truth. There were times when I was shy, times such as these but with her, I found out that I wasn''t just shy...but intimidated as well and bbergasted. Mikalya had this aura about her that I couldn''t shake off. It made me stutter and stumble. "You know..." she smiled at me. "If you want to get a woman to notice you, then you must be a bit more daring." I cleared my throat to try and make this less awkward, but in all honestly, she made my heart beat so fast that I was more concerned of it bursting out of my chest. If a single smile from her could do this to me...how would I react if I did something more...daring? "How can you even tell that I am still a virgin?" I asked, awkwardly scratching the back of my neck. She chuckled, looking around as if she was worried people would overhear, before she leaned closer to me. With her height, it didn''t take her much to reach my ears. She merely had to lift her face. "I don''t know, I can just tell." She gave another chuckle. "Also, I might have to disappoint you about something..." I was confused because I didn''t know what she meant by that. Disappoint me how? There was nothing that she could possibly do that would disappoint me at this moment. "What do you mean Mikalya?" I asked. "Well, I am not a virgin who is waiting for the right man, Abhay. So if you are expecting something like that from me...you just might be disappointed." she said, finally. I stood still, trying to make sense of what she had just said. I mean...I kinda expected it, I just hadn''t imagined that she would be so direct and open about what she said. Mikalya wasn''t the kind of woman I was used to. She wasn''t shy or ufortable in her own skin. She knew just how gorgeous she was, she knew the effect she had on men and most importantly...she seemed to know exactly what she wanted. And none of that bothered me in the least bit. In fact, it would''ve been weird if she didn''t have men admiring her at all times. "Look Mikalya, all these things don''t matter to me. The only thing I care about is what''s in your heart." I smiled, in an effort to reassure her, even though I knew she didn''t need it. Mikalya suddenly became very quiet, all traces ofughter and mischief erased from her eyes. And I began to panic because I thought I had said something wrong. I didn''t know why but I wanted to make things alright between us so there wouldn''t be any misunderstandings. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked, quietly. Mikalya looked up at me as if she was startled to hear my voice, before she gave me a small smile that didn''t really reach her eyes and shook her head. "I was just lost in my thoughts for a little while." she shrugged. "So...what do we have nned for today?" I understood that it was the closest I would get to unraveling her secrets at the moment. Mikalya might be smiling now, but I had a feeling that her guard was up and she was still keeping me at arm''s length. And I wouldn''t have expected otherwise. I was still unsure of what was actually going on between us, but still, I was d that despite not having a clear rtionship status, I could spend this stolen moment in time with her. "I have everything all set up." I told her, answering her question. "There is this wonderful ce that the locals told me about and I want to explore it with you. I think it''ll be the best ce for photographs." "Great.¡± Finally, her smile looked genuine. "Let''s get going before we run out of daylight." "This way," I guided her out of the hotel, not really worrying about daylight because the sun usually set around seven or eight in the evening in the deserts, and it was only two in the afternoon, so we had more than enough time to take our pictures. Soon, we set out in a car that I had managed to borrow across the desert. I wanted it to be a memorable event, for the both of us, so I had spared no expenses in bringing out the rental car and the other stuff that I had in the trunk, all set to have a pic by the bonfire after the photoshoot was over. "I have this perfect venue in mind where we can take several good pictures." I exined to her as I got behind the wheel and followed the route that the locals had painstreakingly exined to me so that I didn''t get lost in the deserts. I couldn''t deny the fact that I was feeling nervous around her liking the ce I had selected, but I couldn''t help it because it just seemed like anytime I was around her, I totally lost control of my senses. I was shy to begin with, but being around Mikalya was a whole new level. The fact that I even got her to agree to first have dinner with me and then go on this trip with me so I could take her pictures...it already made me feel like I was the luckiest man alive. As we drove infortable silence, the vast white sands of the desert passing by us at a rapid pace, I could feel myself rx and be at ease. It felt like I belonged right here, beside her. And she belonged right here with me. It was true that I didn''t even know where she was from or what her surname was, but nothing seemed to matter. I wasn''t the kind of person who took stuff at face value, I was usually very thorough with everything and I didn''t make friends easily either, but with her, normal rules had never applied. After all...I always ended upparing her to a wolf, didn''t I? "So have you ever sneakily taken photos of me before?" she asked out of the blue, and all of a sudden, my nervousness came back full force. I nced at her and found her staring at me already, hoping for a direct answer. Her stares were intense, probing like she wanted to know my innermost secrets. And I found out that I could refuse her nothing. "Yes, I have." I lowered my head, sinking into my seat as I heard herughter from beside me. "Oh...sneaky and kinky!" Sheughed out. Herugh was like a melody to my ears and just hearing her now had me smiling like a fool. With this woman, it was very clear to me that I was no longer in control of myself and I could easily lose myself in her warmth. "Tell me more, how many pictures?" She continued probing. "Did you catch a weird angle? Will you frame them?" The short distance to the destination crossed easily as I endured her non-stop teasing as my cheeks grew hotter. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of driving, we pulled to a stop. We arrived at a hilly area, a little distance from the main city center and in its ce stood the remains of a broken pce. I had chosen this ce because of how scenic it looked and just seeing Mikalya''s face light up with approval told me I had made the right choice. Getting out of the car hurriedly, I rounded up to her side of the door and opened it for her, helping her out of the car.Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org. "Shall we explore?" I asked, giving her my arm. She looked at me for a second before finally smiling and taking my arm as we ventured into the area. ############################# Author''s Note- Hey there, To everyone who had been waiting for this story to bepleted, I can finally assure you that this story is... in fact, nowpleted. However, I do have some bad news as well. First of all, let me apologize for taking so long to finish this story. I had lost inspiration to write this story and I hadn''t written a single word (of this story) in the past few years since I had gotten busy with several other works, mainly exclusives on other tforms. But when I did get inspiration, I made sure toplete it. So now, you can enjoy the rest of the story, and thest installment will be up on a few select apps, except for Novelnow. Now for the bad news: I have the first seventeen chapters edited and bettered for a better reading experience, however, this app is now run by ghosts and absolutely no one answers my questions or helps me when I send them messages after messages to help. So, the edited chapters are no longer avable here. But they are avable on Goodnovel, Radish and AlphaNovel. So please check them out for my future books and several other exciting Exclusive and Non-Exclusive content, as I will no longer provide books to a dead app that refuses to help its authors. For now, enjoy this story, as I willplete this, but for every other iplete and new and exciting stories, please check the apps mentioned above. Thank you so much for sticking around! Happy reading! Chapter 19: Stuck in Time Mikalya''s P.O.V I got out of the car and looked at the ruins closely. The truth was that I didn''t even know what to make of it. It was a national monument so to speak but still, standing in its presence was a thrilling experience, one I couldn''t even put to words. "Wow," I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. I had to give it to Abhay, he had gone above everything I had ever imagined and. Even I never realized that a ce like this had existed in the middle of the desert. The structure was in ruins, but still, I could feel the rich cultural history just by standing in front of the copsed remains of what was once a magnificent castle. Abhay came around,ing to stand beside me as he took my hands in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. And for the first time, I didn''t want to remove my hands from his. Usually, I never liked having someone hold my hand or act lovey-dovey with me. I never could stand acts of PDA. But with Abhay...I wanted to do certain things that were totally against my character. "You like it?" he asked in his nervous whisper. "I don''t like it... I love it," I grinned up at him to see relief flood his eyes. "I''m d," he smiled. "Do you know what this ce is or who it belongs to?" I asked, looking back at the remains. As beautiful as this ce was...it was surprising to find that it wasn''t being swarmed by tourists who wanted to take pictures and enjoy a pic in the cool shades of the rocks. For this ce to remain this abandoned...it didn''t really sit right with me. "I really don''t know but I believe that it must have belonged to a forgotten king who got wiped away long ago. No one really knew him well enough to convert this ce into a tourist destination," he shrugged. "When I asked the locals, even they didn''t name the King, just told me that there was a ce where lovers usually went to...um..." "Frolic?" Iughed at his expression, nodding to myself. Yes. This was definitely the kind of ce where lovers woulde to do ''un-conventional'' activities. But I was surprised that Abhay of all people would bring me here for a photoshoot. It made me want tough when I saw how flustered he looked, but at the same time, I really appreciated his gesture. "So now, this ce is in ruins with no one to take care of and no news of restoration." I muttered. Abhay nodded in agreement. "I doubt the government even cares about this. They are more concerned about pces that are still fully functional and decorative." It was true, that a monument as beautiful as this was left to rust and decay because it didn''t serve any purpose, or simply forgotten because it was too ruined to attract tourists. But this ce too was built on memories, memories that nowy scattered in the dunes. All that hard work, all those dreams and aspirations...just...gone... As I stood next to Abhay, looking at the beautiful ruins as the sun began its decent down the vast skies, I could tell that this castle too was once a magnificent arrangement, no less beautiful than the ones that are now more famous as tourist destinations and are being transformed into hotels. As I walked around the main area, I couldn''t helppare this pce ruins to that of the vige Mouri, that had vanished without a trace after I burned it to the ground. The memory of that day had me stopping mid-stride as the screams of the dead echoed though the walls, as if reminding me of the horrors I hadmitted. Now, the world holds no recollection that such a ce even existed. I was the only one who remembered that vige, that ce where women were never weed...and the cruel Alpha Rafael who had done horrible deeds that made even the dead shiver in their graves. "Are you okay?" Abhay''s concerned voice snapped me out of my trance, and I looked up to find his brows drawn in worry. I seemed to have zoned out once again. Maybe it was because I was leaving all of this behind soon that my mind was trying to remind me of what I had left behind...or maybe, I had built this mental prison all by myself and the only reason I hadn''t been able to move forward is because I hadn''t been able to forgive myself...I didn''t know. But as Abhay''s warm hands squeezed mine in reassurance, I knew that I wasn''t alone...at least in this very moment. "Yeah," I whispered. "I''m fine." I hated to keep Abhay out of my life like this, especially when I knew he was trying to move our rtionship further. But he also knew nothing about me. How would he react when he finally found out who I really was? Or should I say ''what'' I really was? And even if it was one of those rare case scenarios when the human counterpart actually epted a shifter as who they are...would I be truly able to open up to him about everything? About my past? About all the things that I had done? As I stood there, thinking about the memories of the past, I knew one thing. The only thing that people still remembered and feared was the name, BloodPledge. Uttering that name alone inflicted gear in the minds of the people who knew about the history of that pack...a pack who had whipped out most other packs in the southern regions before finally settling in Gujarat. For some reason, I still liked that name and no matter how much I tried, I hadn''t been able to erase it from my life. It was a name that was stuck to me, and will only be erased from the world the day I died. The name was beautiful and I had a feeling that it could''ve symbolized a pledge of protection and trust. It seemed archaic, trusting in a sense. But now, the world remembered that name as a symbol of malice and mistrust. "Sad," I muttered, having no idea that I had spoken out loud. "You seem to be lost in thoughts so often," Abhay murmured, his voice low and thoughtful. "Am I a...boringpany?" I didn''t want Abhay to think he was boringpany, because frankly, he wasn''t. It was just that this ce...it seemed to have unlocked a floodgate of memories within me that I had long kept buried in the corners of my mind. But ever since I set foot into this pce ruins, I kept thinking back to BloodPledge, to all the things that had been and could''ve been. But I needed to snap out of it, because I didn''t want myst moments with Abhay to be discouraging or boring because thest few days with him had been the best days of my life. I hadughed like never before and I had had fun with him. "Abhay, I don''t want you to think that you are a boringpanion. Frankly, I enjoy being in yourpany because it helps me to see things in a new light, see things that I might have forgotten or kept aside. I promise you, you are not the problem." I sighed. "It''s just that...I''ve got a lot of things on my mind and I''m sorry for being distracted like this." And this just solidified my point that I shouldn''t be with him, not when I was still piecing together my life that had been shattered a century ago. He didn''t deserve an absent partner who was stuck in the past. He deserved someone who would love him wholeheartedly,ugh with him, and remind him of just how good of a man he was. "Being with you makes me remember things that I thought I had long forgotten but apparently, that''s not even the case." I smiled sadly, knowing in my heart that he''ll never get to experience the demons that I had. He remained silent, thinking about my words. I knew he didn''t even know what to make of it as I clearly saw the confusion in his eyes. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked finally, seemingly hesitant to find out the answer. "I think it''s both and it solely depends on the memory. But sadly, I don''t have control over which memory will be unlocked and when." I sighed. But none of this was Abhay''s fault, and I thought that he needed a sincere apology from me. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "I''m sorry for being the boring one on this date, it was never my intention." I confessed. "I know you''re probably wishing that you came here with someone else. Not an ideal date, am I?" "No, no! It''s okay." Abhay gave me his cute smile, with no traces of nervousness this time. "Actually, this is the most I''ve ever talked to a stranger and even though I don''t know you that well, you make me feel things I have never felt before and I think it''s a good thing." He gave my hand another squeeze, making me realize that we were still holding hands after all this time. "So, I wanted to let you know that you''re not being a boring date at all." He grinned. "I couldn''t have wished to be here with anyone else, even if I had the chance to." His reassurance wasforting; however, it also made me nervous. Because it meant that the mating bond between us was strengthening and he was getting just as attached to me as I was to him. I couldn''t let that happen. I couldn''t let him be subjected to a life where ''kill or be killed'' was the norm, a life that wasn''t meant for such a simple, pure-hearted person like Abhay. "What''s wrong? You seem nervous?" he asked. Looks like he was getting better at reading my emotions as well. "We could go back if you aren''t up for this, I totally understand." He said quickly, trying to make me feel better.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. I shook my head, refusing. Because this was going to be ourte date together...and I didn''t want to spoil it for either of us. I didn''t want to get his hopes up, but damn if I could say that to my heart. So I did the only thing I could at that moment. "No, let''s explore." I smiled. He smiled back, showing how happy he was that we didn''t turn back. And then, hand in hand, we finally took the first step into the ancient pce ruins. Chapter 20: Possessive of You Mikalya''s P.O.V "Wow, this ce is bigger than I expected it to be." I looked around in wonder. My words echoed through the ruins and I suddenly had a thought that I most definitely didn''t want to share with Abhay. Since this ce was used by young lovers to ''frolic'' was the echo one of the main reasons they came here? So they could listen to their moans echo through the ruins as they made sweet love in the shadows of this pce. But despite the naughty thought, I was enjoying the ce very much. The tall ornate pirs suggested that this was carved from a single stone, and the designs, or whatever was left of it, was made by skillful hands that loved their craft. The sun filtered in through the numerous cracks on the ceiling and the huge chunks that had copsed a long time ago. Despite the dangerous appearance to the ce, it still looked sturdy and peaceful. We walked in deeper and deeper, looking at all the ces that once held relics and decorations that the modern world may never get to see. "Oh look,e and stand in front of this boulder, i think it''ll be a good spot to take pictures," Abhay stopped suddenly, fumbling with the strap of his bag as he tried to get his camera. It was indeed a picturesque area and as I walked towards where he pointed, trying to strike a pose that I thought would be ''cute'', Abhay shook his head and told me how to pose, and in which direction to look as I heard the shutter going off continuously. As we continued walking further,ughing at the several things we saw, I realized that for the first time in decades, I could actually breathe easily. There were no restrictions holding me back, no more worries or memories hunting my mind. Myugh was free, without any reservations and I started to enjoy myself as I posed for Abhay. I twirled under the sunlighting in from one of the cracks in the ceiling and the resulting picture that Abhay showed me was absolutely stunning. The sunlight had caught onto the ss work in my ghagra and scattered it in all directions, illuminating the small room that we had decided to stop by. I couldn''t deny the fact that I was having the time of my life with Abhay, here in these derelict ruins of a forgotten pce. I loved seeing random names of couples on the pirs, there seemed to be more names as we walked further into the ruins, suggesting that this was a true lover''s nest and no stone had been left unturned in such an area. "As much as I love this ce, I could surely use some food right about now," I chuckled. I hadn''t had a really big lunch and I hadn''t thought that we''d be going out of town. But now that it was almost evening, the sun was starting to set and I was starting to feel my stomach protest and it was about time we headed back to town. Once it was dark, it would be difficult for him to navigate the direction. After all, there weren''t any streetmps in the desert. "Oh! Hold on a bit!" Abhay looked up from his camera to point towards the exit. "Do you want to eat here or in the car?" "Don''t tell me you brought food?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "I might... have..." he scratched the back of his head awkwardly and I knew he had prepared ahead for this date. "You know what? Let''s eat here." I shrugged. "It''s cool and shaded, it''ll be a lot better than eating out in the car when the sun is still up and that metal can had been sitting out there for hours already." I didn''t want to insult the car, but as a wolf, I did find them to be a hindrance more often than not. I preferred to run on my own feet, to feel the air against my fur as the wind gushed past me. "Okay...give me a second, I will just-" "No, let''s go back together," I told him before he could finish his sentence. "I''ll help you bring out whatever food you have." He tried to protest, but when I walked past him in the direction of the exit, he had no choice but to follow me like a lost puppy. On getting to the car, I popped the trunk, grinning from ear to ear when I found out that in fact, Abhay hadn''t only brought food, but he had even brought a pic basket for us so that we could have our food together. I couldn''t even remember thest time I had had a pic. Was I getting so engrossed in my past that I had almost forgotten to live my life in the now? "You are a lifesaver, you know that right?" I grinned, taking out the basket from the trunk. We set it out, finding a clearing close to the edge of the cliff where the ruins sat. As we dug in, enjoying the meal, a question popped up in my head. "Abhay, what are you going to do with the photos that you took? Are you going to publish them in some kind of magazine?" I asked curiously. Swallowing, he took another bite of his food before downing it with some of the local palm wine he had brought along. "Well, these photos...they aren''t for publishing," he admitted, lowering his eyes as I saw him hesitate before answering. "They''re for my...umm...personal collection." I almost spit out the sip of my own drink that I had just taken. Abhay''s sudden boldness caught me off guard, but then I did remember him bing more courageous when drunk. He wasn''t drunk yet today, but the alcohol was surely making itself known. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?el5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "Wow, I knew you were kinky, but...damn!" I smirked, teasing him a bit just to see him fumble. "This is a whole new level." But instead of his usual shy, stuttering demeanor, he looked up into my eyes, holding my gaze as he spoke next. "It''s not kinky, it''s called being possessive." He said fearlessly. "I don''t want to share yourughter, you happiness with anyone else. If they see it, they will want to be with you...and I don''t want that to happen." Something inside me just...stilled.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org I stared at Abhay, taken aback by the possessiveness in his eyes as he continued to hold my gaze. My wolf liked it, because that gaze wasn''t a challenge...it was a way for it to know that its mate wasn''t a coward who would run at the first sight of danger. "Mikalya, I might be new to flirting but that doesn''t mean I''m new to being possessive." He added. "It''s why I don''t want anyone to see your pictures, because I''m afraid that if more people know about you...they''ll try to take you away from me." I felt a pang of guilt wash over me as I realized that after tomorrow...I will never see him again. Was it really alright to leave without saying a proper goodbye? Was it really alright to let him keep guessing that what we had or what we felt wasn''t genuine? But my hands were tied. And time was definitely not on my side. So the best thing I could do, was give him tonight. It was all we had left. "Abhay," I sighed. "It''s not easy for people or anyone for that matter to take me away because I don''t belong to anyone. I''m a free person who can choose who I want to be with and once I''ve chosen, I cannot be taken away." As I said each word, I stared deep into his eyes so he would understand what I was saying. He seemed awestruck by me, which wasn''t umon, people usually had that reaction towards me. But with Abhay, everything felt different. "How did your previous rtionship end?" he asked out of the blue, startling me yet again. Blinking at theplete randomness of the question, I couldn''t help but burst outughing. He went from being all possessive one minute to being concerned about my previous rtionship. The switch was crazy, albeit spontaneous and I couldn''t help but find it funny. "Will you feel possessive of me if I tell you?" I asked, taking a bite from my food. "I guess?" He looked confused himself, like he too was just realizing the randomness of his question. "I''m sorry if I overstepped my boundaries. I''m just curious about everything rted to you and I want to know more because you are a very intriguing woman." I debated for a second as to how much I should tell him, but then decided to go with half truths, since it was the best way to keep him away from uncharted territories. "Well, my previous boyfriend got possessive as well and he couldn''t watch me seed, couldn''t believe that I could live independently without being dependent on him; so he started being abusive that''s why I had to leave." I shrugged. What I left out was that when that jerk had tried to hit me, hating the fact that I didn''t need his ''permission'' to do shit, I hadn''t just hit back. I had made sure that he would never be able to use that hand again. Not to hurt another woman, or to do anything else with it. My only regret was that I had to work with only broken bones, instead of ripping his hands clean off of him. "Why the hell would he do that?" Abhay barked out. I started at him with raised eyebrows, amused yet touched that he would feel defensive of me upon hearing the story of my past. "Who is this person? Give me a name so I can take care of him," he growled. I couldn''t help but smile at his cuteness and his courage in wanting to defend me but I didn''t want him to worry about me. I was the big bad wolf that he needed to be worried about. "Don''t worry about me Abhay, I am perfectly capable of taking care of things myself and besides, it all happened a long time ago so I''m definitely over that," I smiled. He didn''t seem satisfied with my answer but he nodded anyway. After all it was all in the past and there wasn''t any need to dwell on it. "I just...want to be there for you," he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. I ced my hand on his, feeling the warmth of his body seep into mine, warming the parts of my heart that I had long thought frozen. But I didn''t pull away from him. "I know. The only way you can be there for me is to stop worrying about me okay? I am totally fine and nothing would ever take me away...." I couldn''t bring myself toplete the statement because I didn''t want to make a promise I wouldn''t be able to keep. He picked up my hand, kissed my palm gently, before he looked up into my eyes. And in the depts of that golden-brown that I hade to like so much...I saw an emotion that scared the hell out of me... Love... Chapter 21: A Wolf Dream Mikalya''s P.O.V "Thank you...for the pic...and the photoshoot." I gave him a tight smile, withdrawing my hand from his. He noticed the sudden change in my demeanor, but he didn''tment on it. But now, we had both finished dinner and that bottle of palm wine that he had managed to get his hands on. But since the sun had already set and the sky had gotten dark enough that it wasn''t safe to travel back to the town, in case we got lost on the way...there was no other way than to stay the night here, by the ruins of this ancient pce. Oddly enough, it wasn''t scary at all. It was calm and peaceful, with the silence momentarily interrupted by the chirping of the crickets and other nocturnal animals.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. "The food was really delicious." Imented, unable to find a better topic. "This restaurant was a good choice." "Wasn''t it?" His grin finally returned. "I went there for lunch this afternoon and really liked it! I knew you would love it too, since you like spicy food. Maybe I should start learning to cook spicy food too, huh?" A man who knew how to cook? Now wasn''t that the kind of guy we women wanted as a husband material? I quickly banished that thought away because I knew the predicament I was in. Thest thing I wanted to do was toplicate matters any further. I needed to hold my ground and ensure that nothing took me away from the goal I wanted to set out for myself. "Thank you, Abhay," I smiled. "But I''d suggest you not try to hurt yourself. You can''t stand spicy food, can you? Then why take on such a hassle?" Abhay seemed to have meticulously nned this trip and I highly doubt that this happened as a spur of the moment thing. He had taken extra food in case we might get hungry again. He had also packed a nket and several other stuff that I couldn''t even count. He even brought a makeshift tent that he had set up for us, with one side still open so we could see the stars even as we nestled inside to get away from the bugs. "I brought some extra stuff just in case but I don''t really expect you to want to stay the night here," he looked around at the ruins as if wondering if it was going to be safe. "Well, it''s getting prettyte and in the desert, it can be quite challenging to find directions during the night when there is no light around." I shrugged. "Besides, we slept out in the sands the other night, didn''t we? We have nkets now, and even pillows. So this night out would be a lot morefortable. "I had only nned to stay till evening and then take you somewhere else the next day," he scratched his nape. "But I''m d that we''re getting to spend more time together tonight." I remained silent as I thought about his words. I would be leaving tomorrow and that was the only reason why I wanted to spend the night here, with him. It was like a final goodbye before I was gone. Because we both knew that his car had a navigator and he also had apass in his backpack. With how efficiently he had driven me here this afternoon, I was sure he had mugged up the road map to the T. But since he didn''t say anything, I understood that he wanted to spend more time with me, just like I did, so we both kept quiet and sat next to each other on the pic nket, surrounded by rocks on all sides to give us enough privacy. I knew that I was going to miss him once I was gone, but I knew it was for the best since he was human, and he had no idea of the supernatural world. It was best to keep him away from a world that would horrify him, change him, if he ever decided to be a part of it. But despite the ache in my chest, I wanted him to be happy in the future, preferably with someone who was his kind. I still couldn''t fathom the reasons why the Moon Goddess would give me a human mate, but it was divine predicament and I had no control over who my mate was. Abhay may have been my one chance at happiness, but for him, I would soon be a life threatening burden. And I didn''t want our cruel world to corrupt his pure so- "Mikalya...?" Abhay asked a bit hesitantly. I looked up to see an inquisitive look on his face. Surely, there was something bugging him and he seemed to have trouble voicing it out. "What''s wrong?" I frowned, leaning forward. "You can tell me anything, I don''t mind." "In that case..." he took a deep breath before asking what was on his mind. "Is it strange that I think of you as a wolf?" I spat out the drink I was having and soon, I was in a choking fit, coughing as confusion clouded my mind. How on earth had he known that? How did he know that I belonged to a different world entirely? Something wasn''t right and I was determined to find out what it was. "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean it as an insult. Please, forgive me." Abhay held rushed to my side, patting my head to make sure I was breathing properly. Funny enough, I didn''t me him. After all, he might just be acting innocent. I was the one that overreacted because I hadn''t expected him to guess my species this correctly. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I calmed down as he gave me some water to drink. "It''s fine, I''m okay." I gave a tight smile. Iposed myself, telling myself that this wasn''t actually real because he couldn''t possibly know. I hadn''t transformed into my wolf form even once since I came to this ce. And neither had Ruksaar. So there was no reason for him to suggest such a thing. And yet...here he was, asking me a question that I had no reply for. "Why? I mean, why a wolf of all creatures?" I asked, genuinely confused. "Well, for a few days now...I''ve been dreaming of a snow white wolf...and whenever I see you and your blue eyes...I just think that...nah! I''m totally rambling bullshit, aren''t I?" He gave a nervousugh, moving away from me. "Sorry if I worried you. I didn''t mean to be such a buzzkill..." "I see.." A snow white wolf with blue eyes. It was me that he was dreaming about. There was no other wolf like me in the entire sub-continent that had pure white fur and blue eyes. But why? Was it because he was my mate? Was the Moon Goddess slowly preparing him to ept reality? I had no idea, but as much as I tried to wrap my mind around the possibility of the goddess trying to ready him for the supernatural world, my decision was final. And besides...this was the first time I was hearing about this. "Was that all the dreams showed you? Is there anything more?" I asked, wanting to know if this had a deeper meaning behind it. "Not really... This dream usuallyes in the early hours of the morning and my mother often tells me that dreams around this time usuallye true but I don''t understand Mikalya. How can such a weird dreame true?" He looked bewildered, a bit nervous even, so I had to try and make light of the situation before he thought too much about the incident. He didn''t need to know any further. And the goddess needed to stop whatever bullshit she was ying at, because I was not going to ept Abhay as my mate! "What if I was a wolf disguised as a human? Will you still be as intrigued by me?" I joked, hoping to distract him from the serious topic. I burst outughing when I saw the look on his face. The mix of horror, annoyance and intrigue was almostical, as if he didn''t know which one to choose. "You know...I think...even if you were a wolf in disguise...I think I would still like you...just the way you are." I stoppedughing as his words registered, my entire body freezing in shock. "Abhay..." I gulped. This wasn''t the reaction I had been expecting...this wasn''t what I had wanted. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "It may sound cheesy and inappropriate but I think I fell in love with you at first sight," he smiled, almost sadly, as if he could feel me retreating into my shell. He looked flushed, nervous as hell as he fidgeted with his hands, and still, he had brought out the courage to tell me the truth. "Really?" I whispered, my heart suddenly beating erratically inside my chest. What was wrong with me? I never felt this breathless with any of my previous partners. But with this man...everything felt different. "When I first saw you...looking like a Firangi...it really blew my mind. I couldn''t describe in words how I felt about you." He looked up at me shyly, locking his eyes to mine. "But...maybe this will tell you what I really feel." Reaching out, he took one of my hands and ced it palms down on his chest. I could feel the erratic beat of his heart against my palm, and I knew it matched my own heartbeat. Inside this tiny tent, shielded away from the rest of the world, it felt like we were cocooned in a world of our own where nothing else existed. At that moment, I made a split-decision. I didn''t care if it backfired but I was going to do it all the same. I leaned forward and cing my hand on his nape, hauled him in for a kiss. Butterflies erupted in my stomach a secondter, electricity buzzing through my veins as my lips moved on top of his. He wrapped his hands around my waist, drawing me further towards him. But when I realized that he wasn''t all that responsive, I pulled back immediately, ming myself for being too forward. I had a feeling that he didn''t like it either. "I''m sorry..." I whispered, unable to meet his eyes despite the bold move I made a second ago. But Abhay shook his head immediately, a light blush covering his cheeks as he looked down at his hands on hisp. "Don''t say that Mikalya. It''s not you it''s me." He smiled sadly. "This...this is my first time..." "I know." I chuckled, cing a finger under his chin so I could make him meet my eyes. "And I promise I''ll be gentle." "Hey..." finally, a smile formed on his lips as his hands came up to cup my cheeks. "Don''t steal my lines." And then he leaned forward and ced his lips on mine...and it seemed like I had just rediscovered how to kiss all over again. Chapter 22: An Unexpected Union Mikalya''s P.O.V Our lips moved in sync, a perfect harmony that spoke to the depths of my heart. My wolf sighed in contentment, basking in the scent of my mate. Abhay was shy at first, kissing me hesitantly, but as the seconds ticked by, he grew bolder, nature taking over to guide him through his primal urges. He broke the kiss to trail soft, wet kisses down my neck, moving aside the blouse to reveal my shoulders where he kissed me tenderly. He then moved back enough to look into my eyes, as if seeking permission to move forward. Smiling, I took off the dupatta, cing it to the side before I reached to my back, untying the strings of my blouse, but not all the way through. I wanted him to do the rest. When I smirked up at him to continue where I had left off, I saw him swallow nervously, but there was no denying the desire in his eyes. I turned slightly, pulling my hair over one shoulder as I bared my back to him. And then I felt his fingers moving up my spine slowly, making me gasp in a breath. His fingers left tingles on my skin, making me bite down on my bottom lip. I don''t remember a time when a simple touch like this had made my stomach clench, heat shooting down to my core in anticipation of what was toe. I felt the strings of my blouse being untiedpletely as the garment fell off my shoulders. And then I felt his hot breath on my nape, before he ced soft kisses down my spine, making me arch my back.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. "Mikalya..." he whispered against my skin, causing a shiver to run down my spine, and it made me restless. Why was he having all the fun? Turning to face him, I stopped him when he leaned in for a kiss. "Shirt, off." It was amand. With eyes slightly wide, he quickly began unbuttoning his shirt, before throwing it over his shoulder, exposing the taunt ridges of his chest and abdomen. No, he didn''t have a six or eight pack like most men strived to, but he was perfectly fit and healthy and his skin was a dusky gold that had me running my hands over his skin, over the light dusting of hair on his chest. He shivered, closing his eyes as he threw back his head and let me do whatever I wanted. And I took that opportunity to explore him, both with my hands and my lips. At the first touch from my tongue on his nipple, he sucked in a deep breath, but didn''t open his eyes. So I took that as a sign of eptance, and continued my exploration until he finally, opened his eyes and hauled me in for a kiss with a possessive grip on my nape. When I drew closer, I could feel the significant bulge in his pants, the sign of his arousal, and it made me itch for a taste. But from what I had witnessed so far, he was a virgin with no experience...will he be able to take it? When we broke from the kiss for air, I took off my blousepletely, baring my chest for him. His eyes widened, and I could see him lick his lips as he watches my nipples stiffen under his gaze. "Go on." I urged. "Touch me. Slow and steady." When he hesitated, I took his hands and slowly ced them on my breasts. And then, he lets his primal instincts take over as he molded my soft mounds with his hands, before he bent down and took one of my nipples into his mouth, sucking on the tip. A surprised gasp escaped my lips at the unexpected fire that coursed through my veins, sending a tingle down my spine, right down to the apex of my thighs. I wasn''t wearing any panties, and I felt my pussy throb with need, wanting more from him. So I shifted closer to him, so that he would be able to use his mouth on me better. And he did just that, sucking and biting on my budded nipples lightly, before licking up the sensual hurt in a way that made my stomach clench in knots. "You''re good at this for someone who ims it''s his first time." My voice was breathless when I spoke, and Abhay lifted his face to give me a shy grin, his cheeks tinted red even in the darkness. "But I want more, Abhay." I rasped out, feeling impatient. "So much more." "I...um..." he swallowed nervously, his eyes lingering on my skirt. And I felt a smirk curl my lips. Good, the boy learned fast. Shifting closer with my legs on either side of him, I took his hand yet again, and this time, lifting my skirt, ced it on my most intimate flesh. He looked shocked at first, stillingpletely as if not knowing what to do next, but it didn''t take long for him to spring into action. He slowly moved his fingers against my lower lips and then parted my folds to insert a finger into my pussy. "Agh!" I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth against the onught of sensation. But he stilled once again, afraid that he might have hurt me. "Are you okay?" His concernced voice sounded a secondter, and I nodded enthusiastically. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "I''m fine, Abhay." I spoke through gritted teeth. "Keep doing what you were doing. Just like you did before. This time, faster." He looked at me unsure for a few seconds, before he nodded andplied to my request, adding another finger inside of me as he thrust in and out of my pussy, making my back arch. "You''re so warm down there...so wet..." he gritted out, never once stopping his movements as his other hand came around my waist to haul me even closer, until I was all but sitting on hisp. "Fuck!" Did he even know how to dirty talk? But he sure was getting there. "Harder Abhay!" I urged, perspiration beading my forehead. "Faster!" "Ah...Mikalya...I...I don''t think..." he grunted out, quickening his pace. The evidence of his arousal rubbed against my lower abdomen and it was when I decided that it was time to finallyplete our union. "Take off your pants." I urged him, moving away so he couldn''t use his fingers on me anymore. "I want you inside me, Abhay. Now." He didn''t hesitate or question me further, simply pulled down the zipper before lifting his hips to slide it down his waist and then I helped him free his shaft from his underwear. He was big and throbbing, pre-cum already glistening at the tip of his cock. Unable to help myself, I lowered my head for a taste of him and felt him grunt out as soon as my tongue came in contact with his cock. "Mikalya!" His voice sounded strained. "I...I can''t hold on much longer." "Good." I lifted my head to look into his eyes. "Neither can I." And then I sat atop hisp, with my legs on either side of him as I lowered myself onto his shaft, bit by slow bit, until he was buried to the hilt inside of me. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! And we began to move. I started by slowly raising my hips until he was all the way out of me, before mming down onto his cock, repeating the process before he too started to thrust inside me, his rhythm getting better with each second that passed. Abhay and I were stered to each other, not an inch of space between us as ourbined moans of pleasure filled the tent, the sound of our union a music to my ears. He made me feel sensations that I had never experienced before, which was unexpected because I had been with several experienced men, and Abhay was a virgin. But nothingpared to the rapid beat of my heart, the way I couldn''t stop calling out his name, and the way I was wrapped around him with all my body, not an inch of space between us. Lost in the sensations, I felt the start of my orgasm in the pit of my stomach, just as his thrusts became hard enough that I could feel him hitting my womb, making me cry out in pleasure. "Mi-Mikalya...I''m so...close...." "Me...too....ahh...." And then, wrapped in each other''s arms, I felt my orgasm take over me, my inner muscles quivering as they squeezed Abhay''s shaft, tripping him into his own orgasm as he stilled below me, his hot seed shooting inside of me, filling me up like never before. We rode the height of euphoria together, wrapped in each other''s arms, before Abhay gentlyid me down onto the makeshift bed, and covered us both with a nket. In his arms, I found peace like no other, and I let him wrap his arms around me, hold me close to his chest as I buried my face closer to him, taking in his scent. As I let sleep take over, wrapped in the secure warmth of my mate''s embrace...I had no idea what fate had install for me the very next day. But in that moment, nothing else mattered. Only me and Abhay. My mate...my other half. Chapter 23: Behind these Icy Eyes Mikalya''s P.O.V The sound of wings resettling into feathery bodies woke me up from my sleep. I opened my eyes to the faint light of dawn that was seeping in through the fabric of the tent. It took me a while to realize that it was Abhay''s warmth that surrounded me in a cocoon and not a nket.N?velDrama.Org ? content. Any other time, my instincts would''ve been to get as far away from him as possible. I didn''t make connections, didn''t know how to keep them. This might in fact be the first time I''ve ever spent the night in a man''s arms. But the wolf recognized its mate. It felt sated and happy lying in its mate''s arms for the first time in a century, even though I knew I couldn''t stay. Once again, my mind got distracted by the sound of ruffling feathers. Cautiously, I rose from the makeshift bed, careful not to wake Abhay and pulled up the zipper from one side of the tent, enough to take a peek outside. Falcons. About a hundred of them. And they were surrounding the dunes around the tent. "Damn those bastards!" They thought to drive me away by force, that too from my ownnd! But that thought itself was irrational. These weren''t mynds anymore; I had left this ce behind a long time ago...and I wasn''t a true Alpha. I was just a lone wolf travelling alone, who had Alpha blood running through her veins. And most importantly, I didn''t intend on forming a pack or settling down here ever again. But the falcons were now panicked after the arrival of two new wolves in the territory and they feared that I was about to take over theirnd and throw them out, causing them to uproot their entire cauldron and having to relocate somewhere new. "Mikalya? What''s wrong?" Abhay''s groggy voice came from my right and I instantly turned towards him with a finger held to my lips, telling him to keep quiet. "Get dressed, we havepany." I told Abhay briskly as I started gathering my clothes. We got dressed quickly and in silence. I was sure Abhay knew something was wrong but he didn''t ask questions, something I was grateful for. Once we were ready, I stepped out of the tent first, just to make sure there were no threats in the vicinity just yet. Abhay came to stand beside me, looking in awe at the falcons that had gathered all around us, trapping us in. I had this feeling that if he didn''t sense the danger around us; he would''ve whipped out his camera for some shots. Even I had to admit, the falcons looked magnificent. All shades of grays and brows amid the desert with the rising sun as their backdrop. But what probably gave away the fact that there weren''t just regr birds but shifters was their size. They were at least twice the size of regr falcons found in the wild and that was just the smallest of the group. "Mikalya...I think we should-" Abhay began but I cut him off my holding up my hand. "Where''s your Alpha?" I turned to ask the falcons, loud enough so everyone could hear. Abhay gave me a confused look, as if he wanted to ask if I was nuts for talking to a bunch of oversized birds, but before I could say anything to him, I saw a shadow in my periphery. I would''ve reacted harshly to the new threat if their scents hadn''t hit me first. It was Ruksaar, Kashmira and her son. And they were all running in my direction, rmed looks on their faces. "Jiji!" Ruksaar called out as she came to a stand beside me with Kashmira on her other side. "What''s going on? I received a letter from the falcons telling me you were-oh!" Ruksaar pped her forehead. "Bloody birds! They tricked us!" "No, we merely gave you a warning." We turned to face the new male voice and saw the cast of falcon''s part in the middle as the young Alpha stepped forward, dressed in the traditional Gujarati men''s clothing. He was the only one in human form, surrounded by his men who guarded him well. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "I thought we had this conversation before," I told them, trying desperately to keep the wolf out of my voice. Abhay was still beside me and he didn''t need to be dragged into a shifter battle. "First there were two of you but now there are four!" The Alpha snapped. "You can''t help it. I didn''t want to believe it at first because I''ve never seen a female Alpha before but I can no longer deny the truth and neither can you. There is no such thing as a lone Alpha! Where ever there is an Alpha, lone wolves will gravitate towards you. It''s inevitable. And soon enough you''ll want to take over ournd to start a pack of your own." "So that''s why I was so drawn to this ce." Kashmira whispered, too low for anyone else to hear but me. "I was drawn to you, that''s why I came here of all ces to seek refuge." "You need to leave immediately," the falcon Alpha spat out. "Or there will be consequences!" I grit my teeth, my wolf gnawing at me to let it out to y. How dare a bunch of chickens try to threaten me and my people? How dare they try to surround me unprovoked in mynds? I took a deep breath to calm myself, but when I opened my eyes, I knew my wolf had risen to the forefront, and now, I spoke in the voice of an Alpha, watching the Falcon Alpha''s face pale as he looked into my eyes. "I had no intention of prolonging my stay here." I spoke calmly, but the sound of my wolf made my voice echo, sounding more menacing than before. "I was going to leave anyway. But you made the mistake ofing here unprovoked, and you brought your entire troop with you. If that isn''t an act of challenge...then I don''t know what is." If they had the guts to know that I was an Alpha, then they should''ve had the brains to realize that once threatened, an Alpha doesn''t sit idly by and let others bully them. An Alpha fights for its pack and an Alpha crushes its opponents mercilessly. I saw the Falcon Alpha falter for a few seconds, but then he squared his chest and stepped forward, his anger palpable as he tried to stare me down. "Why should a mere woman have the power to decide the fate of others?" he barked. "You may be an Alpha, but you are but a woman!" "You proud idiot," I spat. Heughed a deep wickedugh that gave him some false sense of superiority. "You know, I was nning on letting you go, but now, I''ve changed my mind. We will kill you female Alpha, so we can rectify this sphemy of nature!" He spat arrogantly. "You should''ve never been born." Suddenly...I was standing in that old, deste vige of Mouri...my parents being burned alive at the stakes...and in front of me is Alpha Rafael...the man I feared and hated. As my mother''s screams die out, her skin melting from her bones...I watch as Rafael turns to face me, his eyes glowing in anger. "Soon, you''ve face a fate worse than death, girl!" He spits in my face, grabbing onto my hair roughly. "You''re a sphemy of nature! You should''ve never been born!" I blink my eyes, adjusting to the rising sun, and I''m no longer in that ce filled with horror, but in the middle of the dunes and the edges of an ancient ruined pce, with hundreds of falcons in my path. A fierce growl tears through my throat as the memories from the past subside, and my wolf is ovee by anger and resentment. "Get ready!" I growled, and beside me, I could see Ruksaar nod her head as she takes a step forward. "Mikalya...what''s going on?" That soft voice suddenly made me realize that we are not alone...and that even though I had tried my best to protect him from all of this...it was already toote. Turning towards Abhay, I stared into his eyes, an apologetic look clouding my face. "I''m sorry Abhay," was all I had to say to him...because I knew...what was about to happen next, was going to transcend his wildest imaginations. And then I turned back towards the falcons...and let my wolf out to y... Chapter 24: Twist of Fate Abhay''s P.O.V I watched in horror as Mikalya, the woman I had adored, the woman I had spent the best night of my life with...now turned into a beautiful white wolf whose fur glitter silver in the morning sunlight. I couldn''t even believe my eyes, couldn''t believe that a human could suddenly...change...into a creature...a wolf! I felt a numbing sensation take over me as I watched the other girl, Ruksaar, also change into a dark brown wolf as they jumped into the middle of the falcon flock and a fierce battle of survival began among the two groups. "No... please," I whimpered, unable to believe that any of this was even real. I watched astonished as a falcon tried to get too close to the white wolf and it caught the bird''s neck in its jaws. A sickening crunch of a soundter...she dropped the bird onto the ground, bloody and lifeless. I felt a sense ofplete helplessness take over me as I watched the battle continue. Blood sttered everywhere and the cried of the falcons, mingled with the growls of the wolves caused an uncanny cacophony that made me cover my ears in horror. Even though the two wolves were vastly outnumbered, I could tell that they held the upper hand as the falcons fell back, some even choosing to fly away while they still could.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "Cowards! Where do you think you''re going?!" The only other human male in the area screamed out at the birds that had taken flight. "Come back or you won''t have a home to return to!" But the falcons didn''t turn or return. They flew away at phenomenal speed, raising dust and debris in their wake. But as the man turned to the remaining falcons, he tookmand and ordered them into a formation, hoping to take down the wolves. The battle continued, with both sides unwilling to give up, I was left even more confused and bbergasted. Dust swelled up in the sky, creating a hazy brown atmosphere that irritated my eye. How was any of this even possible? How could a person...a human being...transform into an animal withpletely different anatomy? How was any of this even possible? Was I still asleep? That could be the only possible exnation...right? That I was still asleep and all of this was just a prolonged dream? Bringing my hand up to my face, I pped my cheeks hard enough that the sting made my head spin. But even then, the scene in front of me didn''t change. The falcons were still fighting with the wolves, and as more blood spilled, I saw her beautiful white fur turn a deep, dark crimson. Fear gripped my mind as I looked around the ce, searching for some ce to hide. But we were surrounded on all sides. Some of the falcons choosing to keep watch instead of participating in the battle, but even then, two against over fifty falcons were vastly outnumbered. In the midst of the fracas, I couldn''t pinpoint exactly where Mikalya was. The dust and the wingspans of the falcons kept her from view. "Where is she?" I whispered to myself, taking a small step forward. "Stand back!" a voice barked. I turned towards the direction of the voice and found a young woman with the child. She came to stand in front of me, almost in a protective manner. It made me feel even more confused. The child shouldn''t have been brought here! Hell, the mother herself was a child! What were these two doing here in the first ce? "I... appreciate your help, but I think I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," I said to the girl, who just rolled her eyes and stood in front of me unmoving. "Stay right where you are if you don''t want to draw the falcon''s attention." She warned, holding the child closer to her chest. "It''s the only way we can be safe." "But...but..." "Shhh." She looked back at me in anger, just as a few falcons resettled their wings behind us. "Quiet! For now, they don''t think of us as a threat. But if you start running around, they wille for us!" I stilled instantly, afraid to make a sound as I looked back at the scene in front of me. Suddenly...my mind went back to my dream. The white wolf that I always saw in them and the snow coverednds where it belonged. It was Mikalya! It had always been her! ''Subha ke sapne hamesha sach hote hain.'' (Morning dreams alwayse true) My mother''s voice reverberated in my mind as I finally understood the significance of those words. My dreams had been a premonition of what was toe. And just like in my dreams, the white wolf that I had always associated with Mikalya...they were now a reality standing in front of my eyes that I couldn''t deny. When I mistakenly thought of a white wolf when I saw Mikalya for the first time, it wasn''t a hallucination at all. It was real, as real as the very ground I walked on. Even though I was horrified by everything that was going on, all the blood and the gore...I couldn''t tear my eyes away from her as she continued to battle the falcons. She was so fearless, so brave and so magnificent that even the way she tore through the flock,ying bodies in her wake felt like a form of art. But then, something even more astonishing happened right in front of my eyes. The bodies of the falcons that had been dead on the ground...suddenly transformed into human men... I staggered back, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest as perspiration beaded my forehead. My breath came in pants as more and more of those falcons transformed, their bodies marred by scars and w marks, blood oozing out freely. Finally, Mikalya went for the only human man among the falcons. She rushed at him with inhuman speed and jumped high before sinking her teeth into his shoulders, causing the man to scream in pain. Blood pooled at the base of his feet as his body went into a state of shock before she threw him down to the ground, just before he began begging. "Please, I surrender. Forgive me please....spare my life. I will never do something like this again," he begged, joining his hands together. But even though I knew it was a futile hope, I still wished that she would spare the man... Maybe it was because I still saw him as a man and not a creature...but something told me that his arrogance was about to cause his demise. But when I thought that Mikalya would go for his neck, finally snapping it in half...she turned away from him, leaving him on the ground, crying in pain. And then the blood soaked white wolf turned back towards us, motioning with its head and I saw the girl in front of me immediately start to walk towards her. "No, don-" I went to reach out for her, but that was when Mikalya''s head snapped in my direction, it''s pure blue eyes meeting mine, making me take an instinctive step back. The wolf held eye contact with me for a few seconds, as my whole body trembled in fear. But then, it turned and left, followed by the other brown wolf and the woman with the child, And then they were just gone...leaving me alone in a scene of massacre, with dead bodies on all sides and several falcons circling in the sky... Chapter 25: Living a Nightmare Abhay''s P.O.V I woke up on my bed in cold sweat, my head throbbing, and my mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions. "What?" I croaked, looking around the familiar yet unfamiliar room from my childhood, and it took me a good few minutes before realization dawned on me that I was no longer in the blood soaked sands of Gujarat where I had witnessed the unthinkable. Instead, I was in my parent''s house, in my childhood room and I was safe. "Was it...all a nightmare?" I could hardly get the words past my throat, but even as I said it, I knew that I was only trying to fool myself into thinking that I wasn''t living in a nightmare where humans could turn into wolves...and I''d fallen for a woman who had ripped apart and killed several falcons, that had then turned into men... Ever since that morning a month ago, when my life had turned upside down, I had been living in my parent''s house, hoping that it would give me some kind of a temporary respite from the nightmares haunting me every single day, like a child wanting to sleep with its parents at night in order to escape the monsters under its bed. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it was all a nightmare, I knew in my heart that what I had witnessed was very much real...and no matter how much I tried to hide it all, tried to pretend that I hadn''t just witnessed something extraordinarily terrifying...I was only dying the inevitable. With a heavy sigh, I rose up from my bed and made my way towards the bathroom. My body was burning up and I needed a cool shower to douse the mes that threatened to consume me whole. It was a losing battle but I needed to stay strong and make sense of everything that had happened to me leading up to this very moment. As the cool water cascaded down my body, I tried to ease my mind, letting go of all the fears and confusion that had now be a part of my life. It was a losing battle and every time I went out of the house, even bumping into familiar faces on the road gave me chills because I didn''t know what terrifying secrets were hiding under that smile. "I don''t do this anymore..." I whispered to myself, pressing my forehead against the shower stall. I stayed under the showers for a long time, willing myself to get my emotions under control because soon, I will need to go downstairs and face my parents, and knowing my mother, she would instantly figure out that something was wrong with me. So I tried my best topose myself and not let my inner turmoil show on my face. Sighing, yet again, I walked out of the bathroom, putting on a loose fitting t-shirt and pants as I made my way downstairs for breakfast. I found my mother and father already at the table, waiting for me. My mother weed me with a smile while my father was just indifferent, grunting at me with a look of suspicion on his face. I had noticed that change in his expression recently, like he wanted to talk to me about something but didn''t really want a confrontation. Or maybe it was me overthinking everything again? "Good morning, beta," my mother smiled, serving me breakfast. "You''re up early." Momentarily, I forgot about everything else and focused on the food. The tantalizing smell alone had my stomach growling in hunger which just made me realize that it''s been a long time since I had a proper meal, a home-cooked one that my mother had made. And this past month had been pure bliss since I got to eat her cooking more often. "Thanks mom, this looks delicious."N?velDrama.Org holds ? this. Just as I was about to dig in, my father interrupted, his judging eyes piercing right through me and I knew he was about to have a conversation that I just wasn''t ready for. However, I could no longer avoid the inevitable. "How much longer are you going to stay in this house?" he asked, his voice curt. My mom gave him an eye. "Honey...our son hadn''t been home for almost two years! And now that he is home, you''re asking him to go back? What is wrong with you?" "What is wrong is that your son had a job in Mumbai!" he snapped. "So, unless he got suspended or lost his job entirely, nopany would actually be giving him a one month vacation time!" "Stop it! Stop it!" My mother snapped back. "Our son didn''t lose his job! If he had, he would''ve told us! And even if that was the case, can you not be a bit more supportive of him? Why are you so eager to kick him out, huh?" It wasn''t often that I saw my mother get this angry but this was just one of the rare moments and it was scary to see because she was always a cool, calm and collected woman. My dad seemed to have triggered her the wrong way and now, looking at his face, I could see that he regretted it, My parents loved each other very much, it was one truth no one could deny. And I hated the fact that I was causing them to argue. So I knew I needed to man up and face the challenges ahead of me, because I would never be able to forgive myself if I caused a rift between my parents. "No Mom, it''s okay. Please don''t get mad at dad." I sighed. "Truth is...I''ve taken a short break because I just...I just needed a break. But dad is right...I can''t hide in this house forever. I need to man up and get out and face all my problems." I said with a heavy sigh. "What?" she asked in disbelief. Suddenly, the room descended into a heavy silence and I had no idea that the environment would turn this serious once I spoke the truth. "Abhay, you are my son and you know that I would never lead you astray but I need to ask you one question." my father spoke quietly, almost secretively. "Go on," I frowned, wondering why he was speaking in such hushed tones. "Are you hiding from loan sharks or gamblers? Or are you involved in any kind of illegal activity?" he asked, worried evident in his voice. Shit! I just realized that what I had told them might havee out a bit ominous and they hadpletely misinterpreted the scenario. "God! No! Absolutely not!" I shook my head immediately to dispel that notion. "It was a slip of tongue. There''s nothing illegal involved, I swear!" "Are you sure honey? Remember we are here for you at all times, you don''t have to keep anything hidden from us. We are your parents?" My mother took my hands in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze as she silently assured me that everything was going to be alright. I loved their reassurance but at times, we needed to be brutally honest with ourselves. And the truth was that I had witnessed something that I had no exnation for. But I wasn''t going to be the one to burden my family with that truth. So all I could do at that moment was to lie and fake a smile and hope that my parents buy it. "I just needed a break from my monotonous life, that''s all." I sighed. "I promise you, I''ll be going back soon." Silently, we ate our food without another conversation. After breakfast, I made my way towards the balcony to get some fresh air, hoping that it would help me feel a little better. The memories still haunted me, threatening to question my very existence, but I tried to hold onto my sanity as best as I could. And then there was that dream...those snow covered mountains and that white wolf. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn''t erase that white wolf from my mind. Mikalya...a woman that I didn''t even know...the woman that I had made love to, and the woman who had stolen my heart before shattering it to pieces. But why did that heart still beat for her? Why was I still worried about what had happened to her after? Where had she gone? Was she alright? Was she...thinking about me like I was thinking about her? "What are these memories trying to tell me? What are you trying to tell me, Mikalya?" I couldn''t deny the fact that there was a message hidden within these dreams, a message I needed to decipher before it was toote. But what could it possibly be? Looking down at the streets and the passing cars, I gave a small smile to a neighbor who spotted me and waved before disappearing from sight. As I continued to watch...a sudden sense started to gnaw at me...as if I was being watched by someone. Turning my head towards the corner of the road...I spotted someone I never imagined I would see again in this life. It was the woman I had seen at the ruins that day, the one with the child. She stood there, her child held tightly in her arms as she continued to stare at me as if she had something to say. "Hey..." I called out, trying to get her attention. But as soon as she saw me, she suddenly looked terrified and started to back away from the road. "What the hell?" I tried to wave at her. "Hey! Stop!" But she didn''t stop. She simply turned and ran, out of my sight. Momentarily, I stood there stunned, wondering if my eyes had yed some kind of trick on me. Why did this woman appear here now? Was she even real or a fragment of my imagination? But I was done second-guessing everything I saw. It was time to take some action and find out the truth. I guess there was only one way to find out... Chapter 26: Finding the Truth Part 1 Abhay''s P.O.V As I stood there, thinking about what I had just witnessed, I made a split decision as I turned around and rushed downstairs, bypassing my parents who looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Sorry, I just need to get something." I called out to them as I rushed out the front door. "Be back soon." I had no idea if they even heard me or not, but at that moment, I had more serious matters at hand to tackle, and the first thing on my mind was that mysterious woman who I had seen in the desert with Mikalya. If I was going to find answers as to what the hell was going on, she was my best bet. Asides from fining answers to all the questions that had been guing my mind since that day, I also needed to know whether I was hallucinating and if this was all a figment of my imagination.Text ? owned by N?velDrama.Org. I needed the assurance that I hadn''t imagined the whole thing so I could once again go back to my normal life, whatever the fuck that was. This was a deviation, one that had shattered my sense of reality and I needed some form of normalcy back in my life to keep moving forward. Finally, I was out of the house and I ran towards the direction the woman had disappeared to and soon enough, I spotted her walking a bit further ahead of me, alone with her child in her arms. I stopped short for an instant, realizing that I hadn''t just imagined the whole thing and that woman was really here. She seemed to be lost as she looked around the neighborhood cautiously, her eyes scanning the streets for any form of danger. "Hey! You there!" I called out, holding out my hand to signal her to wait. But as soon as she heard my voice, turning to find me walking in her direction, she immediately picked up pace, as if she thought I was a danger to her and her child. "Please... stop. I just want to talk!" I begged. "Please...just...talk to me! I''m not going to hurt you!" I didn''t mind begging her, because my pride was thest thing on my mind. But what I was worried about was any of my neighbors hearing me and thinking I had gone nuts, so I had to keep my voice lowered, instead of shouting to get her attention like I had wanted to. But still, it appeared as if she had heard me, because she stopped running, and turned towards me with a confused look on her face. It gave me enough time to catch up to her, but by the time I reached her, I was already panting. "Please... is it really you?" I asked. I wanted to be very sure that this wasn''t a case of mistaken identity. She did look like the woman I had seen in Gujarat, but instead of a ghagra-choli, she was now wearing a salwar kameez, with the dupatta covering her hair. She looked a bit different from when I hadst seen her, so I needed to be sure I had gotten the right person. "Is it really you I met in Gujarat?" I asked again for rity''s sake. The woman nodded her head in the affirmative, telling me that indeed she was the one. I heaved a sigh of relief. It was the first step...the first step in finding out the truth. At least now, I knew that I hadn''t been hallucinating, that I hadn''t imagined the whole thing. That I wasn''t going crazy.... "What...umm...what''s your name?" I asked, because I couldn''t just keep calling her ''girl from Gujarat''. "My name is Kashmira and this is my child, Kushal." She pointed to the sleeping baby in her arms. "Right...um... Kashmira, so..." I scratched the back of my nape, thinking about how to ask her what I wanted to ask all this time, but deciding to go with something simple first. "Wh-what are you doing here? Near my house, I mean. Do you live around here?" "No. But I''ve been searching for you for a long time." She dered, unphased. "And now, I finally found you." I was stunned by this revtion because I had no idea why she would be searching for me in the first ce. Was she...someone like me as well? Was she someone who had been looking for answers all along? Or was there something more to all this that I wasn''t seeing? "Why? Why have you been searching for me?" I asked her. She took a deep breath, looking unsure of how to give me the news. I had a hunch that whatever it was...it wasn''t something I would be expecting, at all. "Mikalya is gone." I staggered back, holding onto a nearby light post so I didn''t topple over. I didn''t know why the news shocked me so much, but I felt my heart tremble at the word ''gone'', like something precious in my life had just gone missing. "Gone? What do you mean by ''gone''?" I asked, confusion written all over my face. I knew I shouldn''t feel this affected...I shouldn''t feel this shaken, because I had this notion that if I wanted to look for her, if I ever wanted to reach out for Mikalya once again...she would be right there, in that desert, waiting for me in her gorgeous red ghagra-choli. I had eventually wanted to go back once again, to find her so I could seek answers as to what happened that day and why she did this to me. But now...hearing that she was no longer in Gujarat...a strange sense of loss began creeping into my heart. "After the fight with the falcons, we had returned to the hotel we were staying at and Mikalya had told me to go get some rest, but the next morning, to my surprise, when I had woken up, Mikalya and Ruksaar had already left in the dead of the night." she exined. "But how can you be so sure? How can you be so sure that they left in the dead of the night?" I asked, my confusion growing. I was trying to piece together all the facts, trying to make sense as to why she would suddenly up and leave this woman without a word because from what I had seen that day, Kashmira hadn''t seemed surprised to watch them turn into wolves. So she must have known about them...right? But if that was so...then why did Mikalya and Ruksaar leave? Why didn''t they take her and her child with them? What the fuck was even going on around here? "None of the hotel staff had seen them leave either and funny enough, I was left with a wad of cash that had slipped in from under my door." I didn''t know of her rtion with Mikalya, but Kashmira seemed to be on the verge of tears, as if she had just been abandoned by her mother and had nowhere to go. I didn''t know what their rtionship was, but their connection seemed to be deeper than I had initially thought. But if their connection was really that deep...why did Mikalya abandon her in the first ce? Had I really judged her wrong? Was she really such a heartless person? Somehow, my mind refused to believe that. "Ever since that day, I tried to search for them everywhere, but I could never find them." Kashmira continued sadly. "So I tried to search for you instead... because you were close to her, so I thought she''d be with you, but..." Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "She isn''t here." I told her. "I would know if she was." I didn''t know how, but I could feel the emptiness in my heart ever since I left Gujarat that very night. "Abhay, a wolf is a social animal who cannot live without a pack and protection of an Alpha. My wolf has epted Mikalya as its Alpha and now, I cannot join another pack because I don''t feel safe at all." she pleaded, looking into my eyes. "I need to find her, Abhay! My wolf is restless...my child is feeling it too. Please...how can I search for her? You''re my only hope now." Wolf...Alpha...pack... I didn''t understand what any of this meant, and yet, there was this sense of ''knowing'' in my mind, a kind of reassurance that told me that it was all connected to that incident from that day. That man had called Mikalya an Alpha too, called her an abomination that shouldn''t have been born. But how can he say that about such a magnificent creature? I may not understand what was going on just yet, but one thing I did know was that Mikalya wasn''t an abomination, she was a beautiful, strong and brilliant woman who must have had her reasons to do what she did. "Do you have any idea where Mikalya could be?" Kashmira asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I wish I knew the answer to that but sadly, I was equally as confused as she was. All I could think about at that moment, were my reurring dreams of that cold mountain region...the blood dropping onto the snow...and that white wolf...and...Jharna! That waterfall in the middle of the mountains. "The Himyas." The words slipped off of my tongue even though I didn''t understand why I said so. It just felt right...felt natural. There were other mountains in India that got plenty of snowfall but the Himyas just seemed like the right ce that Mikalya might be. But even though I didn''t know why I said the name, the idea of finding her, the thought of seeing her again...it brought out a silver of hope in my heart that had been a barrennd of fear and confusion for so long. Why hadn''t I thought of this before? I didn''t need to know if all of this was a dream or hallucination. I didn''t need to know if I was going crazy or if I needed to rethink everything in my life. All the answers I needed, was with the one woman who had managed to steal my heart. And now, all I needed to do was find her. And then, everything was going to fall into ce. Chapter 27: Cowards Way Out Mikalya''s P.O.V I stood in front of my newly built house, staring at the cloudy skies above. It was going to snow soon, and the tiny buds of flowers that I had witnessed growing in the curvature between two rocks, would soon wither away when the temperature fell. An aching pang of guilt fills me as my thoughts keep wandering to the man I had left behind, the one who was my mate. My other half. In my mind, I knew I did the right thing because humans and wolves don''t belong together. Our worlds were never supposed to meet in the first ce. I had done what I had to do to keep him at arm''s length, but in the end, I had failed to protect him from the horrors of the supernatural world. He was better off without me; without getting involved in my tumultuous life. I had already caused him so much pain and confusion...I didn''t want to add to the hurt and betrayal he was already feeling. I nced behind me when I heard a movement and Ruksaar came to stand beside me, admiring the house as she stood a silent sentinel.N?velDrama.Org ? content. The house had turned out to be magnificent, madepletely of stones and wood. There was a heating system that ran throughout the length of the house, but I had avoided adding fireces to abstain from discovery. There were several rooms with thefort of any luxurious hotel. It was a ce where a pack would''ve thrived...if I''d chosen to be a true Alpha. "Are you thinking about those you left behind? Because I definitely have been thinking about them," Ruksaar''s voice was quiet, regretful. "Are you talking about Kashmira and Kushal?" I asked. Ruksaar gave me a sly smile, one that I was quiet familiar with. It was the smile she usually gave me when she was purposefully looking for trouble. "Why? Were you thinking about Abhay?" she asked instead. I stayed quiet, choosing to remain silent instead of adding to fodder to the fire she was trying to create. I knew her long enough to know all her tricks by now. "The silent treatment, I see." She chuckled, pushing me slightly with her shoulders, trying desperately to get a reaction out of me. "For someone who is named ''Abhay'' (fearless), he sure looked he scared of what had happened that day." she chuckled. "Ruksaar, anyone will be scared if they found out that humans can turn to wolves and falcons at will. Abhay was a simple human, blissfully unaware of all the dangers lurking around him." I exined. "But now that he knows exactly what he is dealing with, even walking on the streets will be a hindrance. He''ll question what is sitting beside him on a local trail or taking a cab ride with him, or simply strolling down the streets. Everywhere he looks now, all he will see are creatures of the dark." I looked into Ruksaar''s eyes, and knew that she understood me. Understood the horrors that we had installed in the mind of a simple human being. This is one of the biggest reasons why shifters never choose humans as mates, because they are afraid of the consequences...and I should''ve been well aware of them too. But I had thrown caution to the wind and for the first time in my life, wanted to live a little...even though I knew I was cursed. "Well, I guess you''re right." Ruksaar sighed. "I still hoped for a better response though, but I''m sorry to say, your man turned out to be a chicken." Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! I shook my head, turning away from her once again to admire the house. "What we did was for the greater good and leaving everyone behind was the best decision we ever made." I spoke out loud, more to myself than her. "But don''t you think that what happened was a bit strange?" Ruksaar asked. "Why did the falcons attack us like that? What were they even trying to prove?" "They weren''t trying to prove anything, Ruksaar." I told her, tucking my hands inside my pockets. "They were trying to eliminate a threat that they believed was going to take over theirnds. Falcons are scavengers, they usually avoid confrontation withrger predators." "Well, it''s clear that your Alpha blood has awakened and now, everyone is going to think of you as a threat no matter where we go." she sighed. "I know." I had known that the instant Kashmira and her son had wanted to take shelter under my care and expected me to provide for them. I could''ve done that...but she was an estranged Luna who had run away with the future heir of an Alpha, and I didn''t want to get involved in that scenario. "Is hiding in the mountains in seclusion the answer to our problem? Or are you simply running away from all your problems like a coward?" I stayed quiet, choosing not to fall for her provocations. She was doing this on purpose, I knew that, and I also knew the reason behind it. Because just as I had Alpha blood running through my veins, Ruksaar was a capable Beta. And her affection for Kashmira and her son had been evident in the fact that she had constantly tried to defend them no matter what the cause. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?el5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "You could have been an Alpha you know, a true warrior who lived up to her reputation but instead, you chose the coward''s way out." Ruksaar''s provocation fell on deaf ears, and I think part of her already knew that. She wanted me to be an Alpha, to give shelter to those who had nowhere to go. But being an Alpha came with consequences and there was no ce for a female Alpha in this world. I hoped that in the past century, Ruksaar would''ve learned her lesson, or at the very least, she would''ve tried to understand my side of the story. But as it seems, she never did. "I have no intention of being an Alpha or forming a pack, Ruksaar." I finally told her, my voice firm. "But if you feel like I did injustice to Kashmira and her son, then you have every right to go back and care for them any way you want. I won''t hold you back." With that, I turned and walked away, silently announcing that this conversation was over. When I didn''t immediately hear Ruksaar''s footsteps following me inside the house, doubt seeped into my mind, making me wonder if I had done the right thing or not. But I knew I didn''t have a choice. She wille around, eventually. She always did. This wasn''t the first time that Ruksaar and I had gotten into an argument about this topic, and I knew that this certainly wouldn''t be thest. However, Ruksaar and I were bound by an invisible string, sisters whose bond had been forged in fire in a deste pack that no longer existed. I headed back to my room, taking a seat on my bed, as yet another image popped into my mind...an image that I couldn''t let go of. Abhay''s frightened face when I had turned to face him onest time after the massacre with the falcons. That image would now be forever imprinted in my mind. How was he now? Had he gotten over that incident yet? Did he still have nightmares? There were so many questions guing my mind, but there were no answers. And probably never would be; because Ruksaar was right just this once. I had chosen the cowards way out...because I had no idea how to face the man who was my mate, the one the Moon Goddess had specifically chosen for me. Chapter 28: Finding the Truth Part 2 Abhay''s P.O.V I took Kashmira to a motel nearby and ordered her toy low. She had travelled a long way with a child and the best thing to do right now was for her to rest, while I figure out what to do next. "I will find a way to take you to Mikalya once I figure out where exactly I need to take you." I told her as we settled into the privacy of her room, where no one could overhear our conversation. I wanted to give her the assurance that I would be able to find out where Mikalya was, but even though I had mentioned the Himyas earlier, it wasn''t like the Himyas were a tiny hill. It was a gigantic mountain range that had several inhabitable ces. Finding out exactly where Mikalya was in the Himyas would be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. "Don''t worry, you will find it eventually." Kashmira chimed in, sounding more optimistic than I felt. "Since you are Mikalya''s mate, the bond will eventually pull you towards her and you will know exactly where to go." "Wait...what did you just say I was?" I frowned in confusion. "Mate?" What did she mean by ''mate''? Was it like some kind of a friend? Like in the British term? Or did it mean something else entirely in this strange world that I had just been introduced to. "I see that you are confused," she chuckled, cing her hand on top of her son''s forehead so to check if he was still sleeping. "Yes, I am... I really don''t understand what you mean." I told her, finding no shame in asking for help when I knew nothing about this new world I was dealing with. "Every wolf has a mate, a soulmate that''s chosen by the Moon Goddess the second you are born." she exined. "We can only have children with our mates, even though some shifters have lovers before they meet their real mates. But once we meet out mates, it''s like...an undeniable pull, an invisible thread of fate that binds us to one another. You must have felt it too, right? When you first saw her?" Now that I think about it, I understood what she meant clearly. It had felt like love at first sight and since then, I hadn''t been able to stop thinking about her. Each and every day, when I saw her, I felt an undeniable pull towards her. Her smile made me happy; when she was upset, I wanted to do everything in my power to make her feel better. When she was close to me, nothing else mattered in this world. Even though Kashmira told me we were mates, I had no idea if Mikalya felt the same way towards me the way I felt for her. I didn''t want this to be a one-sided affair, because now that the initial fear had subsided, the urge to know more about Mikalya was starting to overwhelm me once again. I couldn''t deny that I had fallen for her at first sight, and whatever fear I had felt, now it felt more like a shock of witnessing what had happened that actual fear for Mikalya. Because something told me that even in the middle of a bloodbath, she had never even thought about harming me. "And...how did you know about this?" I asked her, because I needed to be sure. "How did you find out that I was her mate?" "I mistakenly overheard Ruksaar teasing Mikalya that day, when she went out to see you." She looked down at herp, feeling guilty. "I shouldn''t have...maybe that''s why she left..." "Hey!" I ced a hand on her shoulder, hoping to provide somefort. "It''s not your fault. We wouldn''t know why she left until we find her and get to know about the truth from the source. And for that, we need to figure out exactly where she is." "But how?" She asked desperately. "I tried to trace their scent back to Delhi, but then it just vanished. They may have taken an airne out of city. But I have no idea where to." "We''ll figure it out, together." I nodded, hoping my confidence wasn''t in vain. "Tell me something...how does this mating bond work exactly? What am I supposed to...feel?" Kashmira meets my gaze steadily, her expression serene yet knowing. "It''s a connection so deep that it transcends words or logic. It''s as if two souls recognize each other on a level beyondprehension." Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! I blinked, absorbing her words slowly. A mating bond? The concept felt foreign and surreal, something out of a fantasy novel rather than reality. But still, it resonated within me with a sense of ''knowing'' that I couldn''t deny. "But what about... other creatures?" I asked tentatively, my curiosity piqued despite my lingering disbelief. "I mean, besides wolves and falcons. Are there... others?" Kashmira chuckles, a musical sound that dances through the air like wind chimes on a breezy day. "Oh, there are plenty," she replies cryptically, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "But perhaps it''s better if you don''t know too much. Ignorance can sometimes be a blessing, especially when ites to navigating theplexities of our world." I furrowed my brows, uncertainty gnawing at the edges of my mind. "But... why?" I pressed on, unable to suppress my curiosity any longer. "Why keep these things hidden? Shouldn''t we know what''s out there, what we might encounter?" Kashmira''s smile softens, her gaze gentle yet inscrutable. "Sometimes, ignorance is a shield," she murmurs, her voice carrying a weight of wisdom far beyond her years.N?velDrama.Org holds ? this. "Knowing too much can breed fear, suspicion, and paranoia. It''s better to live your life without constantly looking over your shoulder, without fearing the person sitting next to you." I absorb her words in silence, a part of me still grappling with the enigma of it all. But deep down, I knew there was truth in what she said. Perhaps some mysteries were better left unsolved, some truths better left unspoken and as I nod in quiet eptance, I can''t help but wonder what other secrets this world might hold, hidden just beneath the surface, waiting to be discovered. As we discussed, I knew I needed to be honest with myself. Fear has been my constantpaniontely. Ever since that incident, I haven''t been able to shake off the terror that gripped me day by day. The mere thought of going back to my workce sends shivers down my spine. It felt like I was trapped in this loop of anxiety, unable to break free from its suffocating embrace. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on Ne5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! I still remember the moment vividly, when I had stumbled upon something that shattered my perception of reality. It was like peeling back theyers of a veil, revealing a world I never knew existed and in that moment, fear consumed me whole. But amidst the fear, there was this constant nagging at the back of my mind as to where Mikalya was. Had she sustained any injuries too that day? Was she alright? Had she been thinking about me too? I wanted to understand more about this world. I wanted to unravel the mysteries that surround me. And only then would I be able to face Mikalya once again, without fear or hesitation. It''s a strange affair-fear and curiosity dancing in a precarious bnce within me. One moment, I''m paralyzed by terror, the next, I''m fueled by an insatiable thirst for knowledge. It''s as if I''m standing at the edge of a cliff, torn between the safety of ignorance and the allure of the unknown. Perhaps that''s why I haven''t been able to return to my workce. Not just because of the fear that grips me, but because of the curiosity that gnaws at my soul. I want to confront my fears, to face them head-on and emerge victorious but more than that, I wanted to see Mikalya again, I wanted to hold her in my arms one more time. As I sat across from Kashmira, her words hung in the air, swirling around me like whispers in the wind. She was right, of course, because if I had such a visceral reaction to what I saw, it was better that the supernatural world had been kept hidden from prying eyes. But still I wanted to know more about it. "Abhay, I know what you''re thinking," Kashmira began, her voice soft but tinged with excitement. "But if you truly want to understand this world, to grasp its intricacies andplexities, there''s no one better to guide you than Mikalya." I leaned forward, intrigued by her words. "Mikalya?" Kashmira smiled knowingly. "Mikalya... well, she''s been around for a while, you see. Longer than any of us. She''s seen things, experienced things that most of us can only dream of. If anyone can give you insight into the world, it''s her." I furrowed my brows, trying to make sense of her cryptic words. "What do you mean by ''been around for a while''?" "What I''m trying to tell you, is that...Mikalya...just might be over a century old." Chapter 29: The Journey Ahead Abhay''s P.O.V As Kashmira spoke, her eyes illuminating a strange intelligence, despite her young age, I still reeled from the revtions made about Mikalya''s age. "You''re telling me," I began slowly, trying to wrap my head around the revtion, "that Mikalya, who looks to be hardly in her mid twenties...yet she could be a century old?" Kashmira nodded solemnly, her gaze fixed on a distant point as if she could see through time itself. "That''s what I sensed," she confirmed, her voice low and grave. "Though appearances can be deceiving, especially when ites to the shifter world, I could tell that there was something ''old'' about Mikalya, like someone who had seen empires rise and fall...someone who had withstood the tests of time." I felt a chill run down my spine at the thought. Mikalya, with her youthful face and vibrant energy, hiding a secret so profound it defied logic. It was a revtion that shook the very foundation of my understanding of the world around me. "How is that possible?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, as if afraid to disturb the fragile truth we had uncovered. "She looks so young..." Kashmira sighed, shaking her head as if exining to a child. "The lifespan of a wolf is not bound by the same constraints as that of a human." She told me. "Different shifters have different life-spans. As for wolves, we can survive for centuries, some even living up to a millennium. It all depends on the power that the wolf possesses." I struggled toprehend the enormity of her words. A wolf, living for centuries? Even a millennium? It was a concept that seemed to defy the natural order of things, a notion so fantastical it bordered on the surreal. "But why have I never heard of such a thing?" I asked, my mind racing to grasp the implications of what Kashmira was telling me. "Surely, if wolves could live for centuries, it would bemon knowledge." Kashmira shook her head, a sad smile ying at the corners of her lips. "You''re confusing wild wolves with the supernatural. We aren''t the same beings. We are creatures of the night, bound by ancientws and traditions that are often hidden from the eyes of mortals. Mortals cannot know of our existence or we wouldn''t have survived for this long." As her words echoed in my mind, I couldn''t help but feel a sense of awe wash over me. The world was far moreplex, far more mysterious than I had ever imagined. And the realization only heightened my want to search for Mikalya. There was so much I wanted to know, so much I wanted to experience, but Mikalya was at the centre of it all. There was so much left unspoken between the two of us that with each second that passed, the need to search for her, to hold her in my arms once more, kept on growing bigger and bigger until it threatened to engulf me whole. "Kashmira," I stood up from my chair abruptly. "I''ll make sure that we find Mikalya, and I promise to take you to her. But for now, I need to return home." "But...what am I supposed to do now?" She asked, looking a bit helpless. "Stay put, okay?" I urged. "Don''t leave the motel unless it''s absolutely necessary and call me if you need anything." I scribbled down my number on the notepad on the bedside table. "I''ll ask the motel to send you meals and baby food, but for the time being, you need to stay here and not wander around." "Okay." She promised, and with that, I hurried over to my house, knowing that it was gettingte in the afternoon. A few minutester, as I stepped through the threshold of my house, my mother''s voice pulled me from my reverie as she asked, "Abhay, why did you rush out of here like you''d seen a ghost?" Her eyes bore into mine, searching for answers that I wasn''t ready to provide. I cleared my throat, conjuring up a usible excuse on the spot. "Oh, it''s nothing, maa. I just ran into an old friend and lost track of time talking to him." Her skeptical gaze lingered for a moment before she seemed to ept my exnation with a nod. But I knew my mother well enough to realize that she wasn''t entirely convinced. "Abhay, is everything alright? You seem... distanttely." I forced a smile, masking the turmoil churning within me. "I''m fine, maa. Just preupied with some things, that''s all." But she wasn''t fooled by my feeble attempt at reassurance. "Whatever it is, Abhay, remember that you can always talk to me. I''m here for you." Her words struck a chord, reminding me of the unwavering support she had always provided. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded gratefully. "Thanks, maa. I appreciate it." "Oh! And before I forget, something came for you while you were gone." she said, just as I was about to turn towards my room. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "Something came for me?" I was afraid that it just might be mypany''s letter telling me that my extended vacation time was over, or them firing me altogether, but I wasn''t sure just yet. "While you were gone, a letter arrived for you," she began, her voiceced with tension. "It had no return address, and your father and I couldn''t shake off this feeling of unease." I felt a knot form in my stomach. A letter with no return address? That was peculiar, to say the least. If it was from mypany, then there would''ve definitely been an address. "Why didn''t you open it?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. My mother''s gaze softened as she replied, "We respect your privacy, Abhay. We didn''t want to intrude on your personal affairs. But we need to know... Is everything alright? Are you in trouble?" I shook my head, trying to reduce her fears. "No, Mom, I''m not in any trouble," I assured her, just as I had this morning but to no avail. She looked at me with pleading eyes, a mix of fear and determination evident in her expression. "Abhay, promise me. Swear on my life that you''re not involved in anything illegal or dangerous." Her request hung heavy in the air. I understood her worry, her need for reassurance. But I couldn''t bring myself to make such a promise. "I swear I''m not doing anything illegal, Mom," I replied earnestly, "but I can''t promise that I won''t encounter danger. It''s just... the nature of the world we live in. Anything can happen at any moment." "Abhay! Why would you say something like that?" Her shocked expression saddened me. "Well...you know...idents happen every day." I tried to exin vaguely. "So no one is really safe. But I''ll try my best to keep out of danger." My mother sighed, her shoulders slumping with relief mixed with lingering apprehension. "Just be careful, Abhay," she said softly, her voice tinged with maternal concern. "We love you, your father and I, and we just want you to be safe." I nodded, a surge of gratitude welling up within me for her unwavering love and support. "I''ll do my best, Mom," I promised, knowing that no matter what challengesy ahead, I could always count on her to stand by my side. I escorted her towards the hallway because indeed, I needed some privacy because I wanted to read the contents of that strange letter as soon as possible. I stepped into my room, the weight of unanswered questions heavy on my mind. As I entered, my eyes fell upon the desk, where the strange envelopey, seemingly out of ce amidst the familiar clutter of papers and books. Instinctively, I approached the desk, my curiosity piqued by the sudden appearance of the envelope. It was pristine white, devoid of any markings or identifiers, save for my name scrawled across the front in elegant script. My heart quickened as I reached out to touch it, a strange anticipation coursing through me. As my fingers brushed against the smooth surface of the envelope, a jolt of energy surged through me, sending a shiver down my spine. In that instant, the world around me seemed to blur, fading away until all that remained was a vision of a white wolf, stark against the backdrop of falling snow. The image was hauntingly familiar, stirring something deep within me that I couldn''t quite ce. I watched transfixed as the wolf stood against the backdrop of a snowy mountain, its blue eyes burning with an intensity that seemed to pierce through my soul.N?velDrama.Org ? content. With a start, I shook myself from the vision, my heart pounding in my chest. Whatever the contents of this envelope, I had a strange premonition that it was all connected to Mikalya. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be having this vision that was a continuation of my morning dreams. With trembling hands, I tore open the envelope, desperate for any clue that might lead me closer to finding her. Inside, I found a single piece of paper, folded neatly in half. Unfolding it, I was met with an address, written in that same elegant script as my name on the envelope. The address was followed by a few lines of how to reach that certain ce, however, what stood out the most in that address was the word ''Jharna''. This couldn''t be a mere coincidence...could it? Jharna...that name resonated within me with a knowing that I just couldn''t shake. I had seen it, that waterfall, almost every day in my dreams ever since I met Mikalya. What did it all mean? How intertwined was I with the very fabric of the supernatural world that I kept having these premonitions of my impending death? And what would happen when I finally came face to face with Mikalya once again? But no matter the questions that gued my mind, I knew I had to find her, I had to be beside her for whatever danger that was approaching. Because my dreams meant something...and only this ce had the answers that I was looking for. With a sense of determination burning in my chest, I folded the paper carefully and tucked it into my pocket, ready to embark on the journey thaty ahead. Chapter 30: A Bond of Sisters Mikalya''s P.O.V I woke up one morning with an odd sense of apprehension gnawing at my mind, like an ominous shadow hovering over my consciousness. The first rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting patterns of light and shadow across the walls. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I couldn''t shake off the feeling that something significant was looming on the horizon, though I couldn''t quite put my finger on what it might be. With a sigh, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pushed myself upright, the cool touch of the hardwood floor sending a shiver up my spine. As I padded my way through the familiar corridors of my newly built paradise, the sense of unease only seemed to deepen, wrapping around me like a suffocating cloak. I couldn''t shake the feeling that today was going to be different, somehow. Heading towards the kitchen, sensing the unnatural stillness of the house, I couldn''t help but think Ruksaar had finally decided to leave me. After all, she and I hadn''t exactly been on good terms since that fight we had about me acting as the coward and being unwilling to take on Kashmira and her son. So it could very well be that she had gone off to help them on her own. But even so, the mere idea sent a pang of loneliness coursing through my veins, a reminder of just how much I relied on her presence to anchor me in this unpredictable world. Pushing open the door to the kitchen, I braced myself for the possibility of an empty room, my heart sinking at the thought of facing the day alone. Yet to my surprise, there she was, sitting at the dining table with a steaming cup of coffee cradled in her hands, her gaze fixed intently on the newspaper spread out before her. Relief flooded through me like a tidal wave, washing away the lingering tendrils of anxiety that had threatened to consume me. "You''re still here," I breathed, the words escaping me in a rush of gratitude as I made my way over to her side. Ruksaar looked up, confusion clouding her eyes as she examined my appearance from head to toe. "Of course, I''m still here." she replied, tilting her head to the side. "Where else would I be?" I couldn''t help but chuckle at her words, a weight lifting from my shoulders as I sank into the chair opposite her. "I don''t know. I guess I just... had a feeling." I shrugged, the tension slowly seeping from my muscles as I allowed myself to rx in her presence. "You got papers too?" "A feeling? And yes, I got itst week, together with some supplies we needed for the house." Ruksaar arched an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "What kind of feeling?" I hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to put the sensation into words. "I''m not sure, exactly," I confessed, a frown tugging at the corners of my lips. "It''s just... there''s something in the air, you know? Like the calm before a storm." Ruksaar nodded, her expression thoughtful as she considered my words. "I know what you mean," she murmured, her gaze drifting back to the newspaper in front of her. "But sometimes, a storm is just a storm. It doesn''t always mean disaster is looming on the horizon." I couldn''t help but smile at her optimism, grateful for her steady presence in my life. Leaning forward, I reached for the coffee pot and poured myself a steaming cup, relishing in the warmth that spread through me with each sip. "Maybe you''re right," I nodded. "But what''s the use for an old newspaper, though? It''s weeks old..." "Just keeping up with everything that''s happening all around the world." She shrugged, taking another sip of her coffee. "Even if it''s a couple weekste, knowledge is still power." I couldn''t argue with that logic, however, another question now gnawed at my mind, seeing as how cryptic her answers were. It was clear that she wanted to be anywhere but here. "Ruksaar... why haven''t you left if you don''t like staying with me?" The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them, tinged with a hint of frustration and vulnerability. The two of us have been together since the beginning, since a century ago when I had rescued her from the hands of a monster. But I could tell that sometimes, I wasn''t the best kind of person for her. Ruksaar was a free spirit, her thirst for adventure often leading to her packing her bags and going out on random trips to far offnds. But on the other hand, I liked to keep to myself. I preferred thefort of my own home, the world that I had created for myself. Ruksaar''s eyes flickered to meet mine, her expression a mix of surprise and resignation. "Because, Mink," she began, her voice soft but steady, "you''re pushing everyone away. And every time you feel guilty for something that happened, for the incidents that were well out of your control...you push everyone away so that you alone can bear the guilt of it all." Her words hung in the air, heavy with meaning. I felt a pang of guilt tighten my chest at the truth in her statement. Ruksaar''s gaze softened, and she took a step closer, her hand reaching out to gently grasp mine. "Mink," she murmured, her eyes locking onto mine. "You aren''t responsible for anything that happened. None of it was your fault...not Mouri... and definitely not the falcons." I looked down at our sped hands, a bond that had been forged through fire. She was right, whenever I was ovee by guilt, I pushed people away...sometimes even forgetting the fact that Ruksaar was all I had left in my life. "You''ve been more than just my sister, Mink. You''ve been like a mother to me. We''ve guided each other through tough times," she continued, her voice tinged with nostalgia. "And we''ll continue to do so in the future. You''re my only family as I am yours." I couldn''t help but marvel at the strength in her conviction, the unwavering loyalty that had been the bedrock of our rtionship for as long as I could remember. And yet, beneath her steadfast resolve, I sensed a vulnerability that mirrored my own. "I''m sorry," I whispered, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "For everything." Ruksaar squeezed my hand gently, her eyes reflecting a myriad of emotions. "You don''t have to apologize, Mink," she said softly. "But you need to forgive yourself." Her words pierced through the haze of self-doubt and guilt that clouded my mind, striking a chord deep within me. For years, I had carried the weight of my past mistakes like a burden, allowing them to define me in ways I couldn''t fullyprehend. "And what if I can''t?" I asked, the words barely more than a hoarse whisper. Ruksaar''s gaze held mine, unwavering in its intensity. "Then you''ll never be able to move forward," she said simply. "You took the life of those at Mouri when you were just fourteen, Mink. It was a terrible tragedy, but it wasn''t your fault." Her words echoed in the silence that followed, a stark reminder of the wounds that still festered beneath the surface. And yet, despite the pain they stirred within me, there was a glimmer of hope, a possibility that maybe, just maybe, I could find peace amidst the chaos of my own making. "And now, after getting rid of an entire falcon cast," Ruksaar continued, her voice gentle but firm, "the guilt has only intensified." She paused, her expression softening with empathy. "But you have to believe me when I say that you''re not alone, Mink. I''m here for you, now and always." Her words resonated deep within me, causing me to rethink everything that I thought I knew about myself, about everything around me. "You push people away because you think you don''t deserve happiness," Ruksaar continued softly, her voice tinged with empathy. "But Mink, you deserve happiness just as much as anyone else. You are worthy of love andpanionship." I nodded, unable to form words as her words struck a chord deep within me. It was true, I often found myself pushing others away, building walls around my heart, convinced that I was better off alone but hearing Ruksaar articte it so inly made me realize just how destructive that mindset could be. "But Mink," Ruksaar continued, her gaze unwavering, "you are not meant to be alone. None of us are. We are social creatures, we are wolves. We thrive in thepany of others, in the warmth of a pack." "You''re my pack, Ruksaar," I whispered, my voice barely above a breath. "You''ve always been there for me, supporting me, guiding me. I don''t know what I would do without you." Ruksaar smiled, a gentle, reassuring smile that melted away thest vestiges of doubt and fear. "And I will always be here for you, Mink. No matter what. We''re in this together, remember?" With those words, I couldn''t hold back any longer. I rose from my seat and crossed the room in a few quick strides, wrapping Ruksaar in a tight embrace. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, the burden of loneliness and self- doubt slipping away with each passing moment. In that embrace, I found sce, I found strength. And most importantly, I found the unwavering support of a sister who would never abandon me, no matter how dark the days ahead might seem. All this time, I had thought that I was all alone in this entire world, but I had been overlooking the only person who had stood beside me through thick and thin, sacrificing everything in her life to stand by my side. Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you''re on ?e5s.org to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! Suddenly, my wolf rose in my mind, it''s interest piqued as that strange feeling from earlier returned with a vengeance. "Ruksaar," I said with urgency, breaking the heavy silence that surrounded us. "I need to go outside." Ruksaar looked at me with concern etched into her features. "Are you sure, Mink? It''s freezing out there." I nodded, a strange pull tugging at my heart, urging me to step into the frosty wilderness beyond. "I have to," I replied, my voice resolute despite the uncertainty gnawing at me from within.N?velDrama.Org ? content. Stepping out into the cold, I felt the chill seep into my bones, but I paid it no mind. My gaze was fixed on the horizon, where the sky met the snowy expanse in a blur of white and gray. My mind was restless, my thoughts swirling like the snowkes that danced around me. And then, I saw them. Two figures emerging from the haze, their silhouettes blurred by the falling snow. A surge of anticipation washed over me, mingling with the primal instincts that stirred within my soul. My wolf, always vignt, howled in recognition, telling me what my heart already knew. "Abhay," I whispered, barely daring to believe it myself. Ruksaar stood beside me, her presence aforting anchor in the midst of my tumultuous emotions. "Is it him?" she asked softly, her eyes searching mine for reassurance. I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest. "Yes," I replied, a sense of wonderment and disbelief flooding through me. As the figures drew closer, I could make out Abhay''s familiar form, his stride confident and purposeful against the backdrop of snow. My breath caught in my throat as our eyes met, a silent understanding passing between us that transcended words. "He''s here." ################## This isn''t the end. I will post more soon. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!